


Let Me Be Your Front Line: The Album

by I_write_fanfiction_sometimes



Series: Let Me Be Your Front Line [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Singer/Songwriter, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Bodyguard AU, Cuddling, Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Idiots in Love, M/M, Magic, Slow Burn, The Fey - Freeform, Witches, fey!Theo, kind of, look it’s a fantasy fic. There’s witches and magic and stuff, the slowest burn, witch!Liam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-22
Packaged: 2019-08-25 03:21:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16653307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/I_write_fanfiction_sometimes/pseuds/I_write_fanfiction_sometimes
Summary: Theo and Liam are thrown together when Theo’s father, the fey king, finally decides to let Theo be a musician. The only catch is that he needs a bodyguard. Liam wants nothing to do with the fey, but apparently, he has no choice. So now he’s going to be living with a pretentious, arrogant prince with stupid pointy ears and too fancy clothes for an unidentifiable amount of time. His magic is entirely too happy about it.They say they don’t get along, but months of movies, shared food, and built trust say otherwise. All Theo wanted was to put out an album. Liam wasn’t supposed to laugh at his jokes or stare at him like that. It’s very hard to stay focused when Liam sits there winding blue and gold magic around his fingers that Theo can feel from across the room.OrTheo is the fey prince who wants to sing instead, Liam is the several thousand year old year old witch that’s tired with life. They both find something that wakes them up, and it’s not necessarily what they expected.





	1. April 7

**Author's Note:**

> So I bit off a bit more then I could chew with this fic. Even so, it’s still both the longest thing I’ve written and the first time I’ve done a serious AU. Many thanks to Autumn (imjustafangirl-nobodylovesme) and Janna (li0nh34rt) for being lovely betas and not screaming at me when I had a week left and wasn’t done.  
> My lovely artist is [Amanda](http://lovelylittlegrim.tumblr.com/) (lovelylittlegrim) you can find her art [here](http://lovelylittlegrim.tumblr.com/post/180370145052/officialthiamlibrary-thiam-big-bang-2018-let-me). I can’t say thank you enough! Overall, it took a small army to bring this fic together and I honestly can’t believe I finished it. So without further ado, here’s the first part of Let Me Be Your Front Line (because like I said, too much to chew)  
> Also! Disclaimer! I don’t know anything about how albums are actually recorded or the inner workings of the promotional/management stuff. And any songs mentioned, unless there is a specific artist named, are my own.

 

 

Theo wakes up to the soft voice of his servant. It’s another day to pretend that he actually cares about the world his father has built by force and fear. There’s the smell of sweet bread in the air and Theo blinks his eyes open to jewel-toned light.

“Theo, sir, will you be bathing before breakfast?”

Theo looks at the blank-faced faerie beside his bed and swallows a scream of frustration.

The bells start ringing outside and Theo finally sits up.

“I will be.” He says, anything to avoid his father for a while longer.

As the servant runs the water Theo slips out of bed and pads to the window. There are fluffy clouds outside, and Theo sighs at the near perfection of the fey capital. There are no flaws here, and Theo can’t stand it.

“Sir?”

Theo turns and steps up to the bath.

It lets out clouds of pink steam, Theo knows that there’s definitely some kind of magic in it.

When he slips into the water he closes his eyes, enjoying the feeling of his muscles relaxing.

“Will you be needing anything, your highness?”

The voice of his servant startles him and his eyes flick open.

“No, James, you can leave.”

James nods and backs out the door.

Theo sinks back and shuts his eyes again.  
Wind chimes tinkle around the bathroom.

Theo enjoys the water for nearly an hour, feeling his muscles wake up and his magic humming through his veins.

When the bells chime again, Theo sits up and searches for his towel.

James comes back in just as Theo is sliding his shirt on.

“Breakfast?” He asks, his head bowed.

Theo sighs and nods, striding passed James and out the open door.

The guard posted there startles at the sight of him, but quickly falls into step behind him. Theo glances back and sees that it’s Derek. He smirks slightly and raises an eyebrow at the mess of unbrushed hair on Derek’s head.

“Sleep in again?” He whispers out of the corner of his mouth, knowing that Derek can hear him perfectly.

Sometimes being born half fey, half elven has its perks.  

Theo can feel his glare digging into his back and smiles.

Servants pull open doors and bow as he walks past, making Theo grit his teeth. He doesn’t want this fearful obedience.

When he walks into the dining room there’s a scramble of movement as people pull out his chair and dish out a steaming plate.

His father doesn’t even look up.

Theo is nearly finished when his father finally acknowledges his existence.

“Are you ready to begin your duties?” He asks, the same as every morning.

Every day the request gets a bit shorter, and Theo knows one day he won’t have a choice. Theo looks up and sees one of the servants standing hunched in the corner, eyeing his father with barely concealed terror. And he can’t do it.

“You know what my answer is. And you know what I really want.” Theo starts calmly.

The man that meets his eyes isn’t Theo’s father. It’s the king who tore his way into the human world and didn’t stop until there wasn’t one person who didn’t believe in the fey.

“I will not let you waste your talent on fickle humans!” He says, in a voice that could shake mountains.

Theo shrinks back, but anger is rising up because it’s not the same at all.

“I don’t want to rule the humans!” Theo nearly shouts.

The servants on the edges of the room press farther away from them and Theo distantly feels sorry.

His father laughs, but it’s cruel.

“No. You want to sing for them.”

Theo nods, angry.

“You know what will happen if you do!” His father says derisively.

“I’ll be careful.” Theo pleads.

“Being careful isn’t enough with this! Besides. Your duty is to your own people.”

Theo snorts.

“My own people hate me. Just for what I stand for.”

There’s the scraping of chair legs across oak floors and then the king is standing right in front of Theo.

“What did you say?”

“Do you really think the Fey, as wild as they are, actually enjoy being ruled like this?” Theo hisses.

He’s walking a dangerous line, and he knows it. But watching the anger actually make his father’s eyes glow only makes him sit straighter.

“I want to have a kingdom I can actually be proud of.” Theo sneers, twisting his point home.

“If you think you can actually make a kingdom, boy, then go ahead. Let the humans fall all over you until you accidentally end up with an empire of slaves.” The king replies, with fire burning in his eyes. “But you’ll have a guard. That’s the rule.”

Theo laughs humorlessly.

“Fine. I’ll take Derek.”

“No. I’m getting a Witch.”

Theo finally sinks back.

“No.”

“I won’t let my heir be torn apart. And I know that even one of the best-trained guards can’t protect you.”

Theo sneers and crosses his arms.

“No witch would help us.” He says confidently.

His father smiles darkly.

———

 

Liam rolls over and stares at the glowing 5:20 on his clock. It’s too early, but there’s the sound of his wards buzzing and thumping from his door.

He flops back into his bed and waits. The sound doesn’t stop, and the whining is starting to get annoying. He groans and rolls out of bed, absently calling his housecoat and letting it slip around his shoulders.

When he opens his door there’s a fey waiting. Liam slumps against the doorframe and puts on his best look of disdain. He looks up only when the man clears his throat.

“Yeah?” Liam drawls.

“Do you know who you’re talking to?”

Liam looks the fey up and down and smirks.

“Of course I do. What brings you to my doorstep, my king.” His voice full of clear disinterest.

The king bristles visibly and Liam watches with vague amusement as he draws himself up and gathers his magic. Liam has more magic in a single finger than this man can control. Apparently more sense as well. Liam holds no love for the fey king.

“You owe me a debt.”

Liam growls and stands straighter. Of course the fey never forget.

“I owed your _father_ a debt, little one.” He hisses, drawing back.

Light rises behind the king and Liam would laugh at the weak display of power if he wasn’t so pissed off.

“And I’m claiming it now.” He says. “Or is the debt somehow paid?”

Liam scowls at him and steps aside, waving him inside. The king’s gold and teal robes look out of place in Liam’s slightly dingy apartment.

As he looks around, Liam can practically taste the disdain in the air.

“Your accommodations are… interesting.” He finally settles on.

Liam feels amusement settle in his stomach.

“Not all of us need to convince people we’re powerful with marble castles and gold fountains, my liege.” Liam chuckles.

The king stiffens, but wisely ignores Liam.

“I’ve come to give you a job.” He says instead, staring out of Liam’s tiny window.

“And I have no choice but to accept it.” Liam finishes for him.

When the king finally looks at him Liam is surprised to see some actual feeling in his eyes. In his notable experience, the fey rarely feel emotions.

“What is it?” He queries, curious now.  

“My son…”

Liam raises an eyebrow and flops down onto his sofa.

“Yes?”

“He wants to prove his worth.” The king doesn’t sound very happy about it.

“And that has _what_ to do with me?”

“I need you to be his bodyguard.”

Liam laughs loudly.

“You want me to follow around your stuck up son just so that he can prance around like an entitled brat?”

The king’s hands crackle with electricity but Liam doesn’t even flinch.

“That’s a stupid idea and you know it.” Liam says softly, letting a sliver of magic seep into the room.

Even a fraction of his power makes every perfect hair on the king’s head stand on edge. The lights glow brighter. Liam breathes deeper with the pure energy it brings.

“You can’t challenge me. No one can.” Liam says, leaning farther back in his seat, staring the fey king down.

If someone walked in right now they would see Liam glittering with energy and sitting on his ratty couch like it was a throne. He didn’t need the luxury and dazzle to be the most intimidating person in the room.

Liam sees the king actually debate it before shaking his hands out and fixing Liam with a glare.

“He wants to sing. I want him to see it’s not worth it.”

Liam hates every word out of the fey’s mouth.

“His heart is set now, but when he sees what it takes he will come back to rule our kingdom.” The king mutters, nearly to himself.

Liam sighs and tips his head back, letting his magic dissipate.

“Why do you need me?” He asks.

“You know what the fey voice can do. It will cause… problems. And I may not like this path, but I will not have him hurt.” The king answers, a faint crackling on his shoulders.

Liam eyes the sparks before looking up at the king’s face.

“And when I do this, I’ll owe no more to the House of Raeken?”

The king sighs and nods.

“You’ll be free of any debts.” He confirms.

Liam nods back and stands.

“I’ll be in your courtyard at ten tomorrow.” Liam says.

“There’s wards-” The king starts.

Liam smirks and waves a hand. The king disappears in a whirl of flashing robes.

Liam slumps when he’s gone, noticing how the room smells of rain and tree sap. The fey leave traces wherever the go.

So here he is again. About to take care of an undoubtedly stuck up fey prince.  At least it will be the end of a life debt.

———

 

The library is quiet, and Theo welcomes the peace. People rarely look for him here, and even if they do, they usually don’t bother him. The furious scribbling and occasional random humming tends to scare them off. It’s a place where Theo feels safe, often spending hours writing. Sometimes the servants that run the library even come up to him and actually have normal conversations with him, often offering help if Theo looks too frustrated.

There’s a bunch of noise from the direction of the entrance and when Theo looks up he’s surprised to see his father striding toward him through the bookshelves.

He doesn’t look happy, and Theo slowly shuts his book. He doesn’t stand up, even when his father stops in front of him.

“Theo.”

“Yes, father?” Theo grumbles.

He looks down at him in what’s probably disappointment.

“You will meet your bodyguard tomorrow.” He says in a tone that allows no argument.

Theo scowls up at him and slouches down in his chair.

“How did you manage that?” Theo sulks.

“You’re acting childish, Theo.” He says instead of answering. “I would have thought you’d be happy about this.”

Theo bares his teeth and sneers.

“I don’t want you controlling this as well.” He hisses.

The king laughs and plants a hand on the table beside Theo, leaning down to stare him straight in the face.

“You’re a prince, your life will always be controlled.”

Theo regrets staying sitting with his father looming over him like that.

“This isn’t about me being a prince.” He says defiantly.

His father doesn’t say anything, but there’s a hint of a frown as he straightens.

“It doesn’t matter. I’ve called in my favour, and you’re getting your music. Be happy.” He says.

Theo slouches.

“Did you at least call in a younger witch?” Theo sighs in defeat.

The king smirks and shakes his head.

“As if I’d waste my time on an inexperienced child.”

Theo sighs again and waves a hand at his father.

“Please leave me alone.”

His father nods and sweeps away, his gold robes swishing noisily on the floor.  

“Be in the courtyard by 9:30.” The king calls, almost as an afterthought.

Theo bares his teeth at his father’s back and turns back to his notebook.

His little corner of the library now seems a lot less stimulating, the words and melodies that had been whirling around his head all day are suddenly gone. Theo sighs and stands up, the noise of his heavy wood chair on the floor making him flinch. It’s getting late anyway.

He still has to prepare for tomorrow, and then he has to contact his human friends and let them know that he’s ready.


	2. April 8

Theo wakes up the next morning at seven, and the world is already bright. He rolls his way out of bed with a groan and stumbles over to his bathroom. He’d asked James to let him get himself ready this morning, so his room is quiet and empty. 

There’s an outfit set out that he wrinkles his nose at, sighing and backtracking to the closet. 

He’s not wearing a black suit to meet a bodyguard, even if they’re a witch. 

Half an hour later he’s just pulling on his knee-length black and gold coat when there’s a knock on his door. 

Theo frowns at the noise, and finishes fixing his collar as he strides over. 

On the other side of the door is a boy that looks about his age. He’s wearing jeans and a wrinkly t-shirt. He looks messy and a bit like he just rolled out of bed. 

“Theo Raeken.” The boy drawls.

“And you are?” Theo sneers, about to close the door. 

The boy smirks and plants his hand on the doorframe before Theo can close it. 

“My name’s Liam.”

Theo leans against the door and continues to frown at him.

“I wanted to talk to you privately.” Liam says.

“Privately?” 

“Before we ‘officially’ meet.”

Theo stumbles back a few steps and Liam takes the opportunity to force his way into Theo’s room. 

“You’re the witch my father hired? How DID he manage that?” Theo stutters.

Liam wanders around his room, picking up odd trinkets and swirling his fingers around them. 

“I owed your family a favour, apparently this was big enough that he’d risk calling me.”

Now that Liam is actually in his room Theo can feel the power just radiating off of him. 

It fills the room, it’s honestly a bit intoxicating. Theo realizes, as Liam turns around to smirk at him again, that Liam is actually really hot. His hair curls around his ears and his eyes are a very clear blue. 

Liam seems to notice him staring a bit because his smirk deepens and he twists some blue sparks around his fingers. Theo forces himself to sneer and look away, ignoring the way the room seems to hum as Liam uses his magic.

“A risk?” Theo asks, his voice a bit raspy. 

Liam grins.

“People don’t often have good luck treating me like a common bodyguard.” 

Theo understands why when Liam comes closer to him, the air just feels heavy and Theo actually struggles to pull in a breath when Liam stops only inches away. 

“I’m old, Theo. Nearly the oldest witch out there.”

Liam touches Theo’s arm and he nearly jumps at the sparks.

“There’s magic practically coming out of my pores.” He says, his voice dragging slowly up Theo’s spine. 

Theo steps back and clears his throat forcefully, looking down. 

Liam goes back to his sweep of the room. 

“Anyway. He must have decided that this was what he was going to use that favour for.” Liam says offhandedly. 

Theo swallows and grits his teeth. 

“Couldn’t you have said no?” He groans. “I don’t want someone following me around all the time.”

Liam faces him.   
“That’s what I’m here to talk about you about.” He says seriously. “I don’t like your father any more than you do.” 

There’s a moment where Theo just stands there staring at him with what he knows is a slight frown before he nods at Liam. 

“Let’s sit down then.” He says, pointing to the desk in the corner. 

Liam nods and settles into one of the plush chairs.

Theo totally doesn’t watch when he leans back and spreads his legs out. 

“Your best chance at freedom is with me. I don’t give a shit what your dad thinks of me, and I have more power in my HANDS then he could scrounge up in his entire kingdom. I won’t use you to get close to your father and I won’t report back or anything, but I need this debt gone.”

Theo flops down in his own chair. 

“Why do you need it gone?”

Liam just looks at him.

“Would you want to owe your father a favour that he could call in at any time?” 

Theo nods his assent and narrows his eyes. 

“You’ll let me do whatever?” 

“I’ll just be there when needed, in public or whatever.”

The clock chimes 9 outside and Theo looks away from Liam.

“My father is expecting me down in the courtyard in half an hour.” He says slowly.

Liam nods.

“So we have an agreement? You won’t be difficult and I won’t be controlling?”

Theo stretches out a hand and nods back. 

“We do.”

Liam shakes his hand and stands up. Gold sparks fly off his clothes and Liam grins. 

“I’ll see you soon, Theo.” 

And then he disappears in an overdramatic gold flash. Theo nearly laughs at how it’s blatantly Liam showing off. 

The room feels empty without Liam in it, and Theo feels lighter without the weight of magic on his skin. 

He turns to his window and just breathes for a second, feeling the more natural magic of the fey seep back into the room. It’s overwhelming, the difference. Liam’s magic had felt like syrup and bonfires while his own feels like spring. 

There’s another chime and Theo startles, realizing that he’s been standing there staring out the window for fifteen minutes. 

Theo straightens out his coat and takes a deep breath before sweeping out of his room. Derek falls into step behind him with a blank look. 

“Have you been out here this whole time?” Theo asks.

When he looks back Derek is grinning. 

“Did you have a good time with Liam?”  

Theo scowls at him.

“You aren’t supposed to let people in that you don’t know.” 

“Who says I don’t know him?” Derek replies mysteriously. 

Theo scowls harder and stomps away. 

Derek stops him with a hand on his shoulder before he can enter the courtyard. 

“Liam is a good man. You can trust his word.” He says seriously.

Theo nods. 

“For some reason I do.” 

Derek releases him and the walk into the courtyard together. Liam’s father is already there, dressed in a frankly ridiculous coat. 

Theo guesses that if he had any interest in appearing powerful in front of Liam he’d have to overcompensate as well. 

“Father.” He says when he steps up beside the king.

“Theo. How was your sleep?” 

He doesn’t even look at Theo. 

“It was good.”

They stand there awkwardly. Theo sincerely hopes that Liam is early. 

He’s not. He’s actually late. Theo glares at him when he finally pops into existence with a smug grin. Liam just smirks back, he probably knew that they were waiting and was late out of spite. In fact, Theo would bet money on it. 

He’s changed since he stopped by Theo’s room, and he can’t help but notice the snug black jeans and leather jacket suit him much better than the frat boy look from before. It’s still too casual for a castle, and Theo feels his dad bristle beside him. Liam clearly sees it too, because he turns to smirk at the king instead. 

Even with the jewels and fur around Theo’s father’s neck, Liam is still clearly above him. It makes Theo want to laugh. Liam could ruin everything his father had built without breaking a sweat. 

“How are you this morning, Your Highness.” Liam drawls with one eyebrow in his hairline. 

Theo can feel the stickiness in the air as Liam’s magic spreads. He’s pretty sure Liam actually does have magic coming out of his pores. 

Theo’s father draws himself up and clears his throat. 

“I’m well. This is Theo.” He says, very clearly not asking Liam how he is. 

Liam narrows his eyes and his grin goes cold. 

“Yes, I know, Jonathan.”

Theo flinches away from them both, and the entire courtyard seems to hold its breath at the sound of the king’s given name. 

Liam doesn’t look even a bit intimidated at the look of fury on the king’s face, and Theo looks at his feet, envying Liam in his ability to walk away from the consequences of antagonizing Theo’s father. Theo feels heat on the side closest to his dad, and knows that it’s his magic sizzling beneath his skin. Nearly as fast as it had flared, the lightning and storm of his father’s magic is drowned in the sticky feeling of Liam’s. When Theo looks up from his shoes Liam is staring right at him with a frown. The feeling of Liam’s magic gets stronger, until all Theo can feel is syrup and smoke. He relaxes when he can no longer sense his father’s magic beside him. 

He doesn’t really like the way Liam is looking at him. 

“Let’s go somewhere more… private.” The king says in a dangerous voice. 

Theo shivers even with the press of Liam’s magic on his skin. Liam walks beside him through the corridors. Theo stares straight ahead, avoiding his gaze. 

His father takes them through the grander hallways of the palace, gold wall hangings and purple carpets everywhere. When Theo finally looks at Liam he doesn’t look impressed, in fact, he’s not even looking at the building. He’s still staring at Theo. 

The king leads them into one of the many sitting rooms and sinks down into an armchair. Theo watches him carefully as he perches on the couch opposite. Liam flops inelegantly down beside him. The king barely hides his distaste. 

“Theo, this is Liam, your bodyguard.” 

“Yes, father.” 

Liam laughs. 

“I think he’s figured that out already.” He says derisively.

Theo looks over at Liam, anger rising in his chest slowly. Liam can’t screw this up for Theo just because he hates his father. Liam meets his gaze with a defiant smirk. 

Liam looks away first. He turns back to Theo’s father with a pitying snort. 

“So now that we’ve established that, what now?” He asks. 

The king clears his throat and leans forward in his chair. 

“I have some requirements.”

Both boys stiffen and Liam snarls.

“Besides following him everywhere he goes?” 

“You need to be with him 24/7. You will not let him out of your sight.”

“Dad-” 

“No. That’s what has to happen if you want to do this. You will move in together. And Theo? You will not leave the house without Liam.”

Liam shoots to his feet, the syrup of his magic solidifying and stealing the air. 

“This wasn’t part of the deal.” He hisses. 

The king doesn’t look fazed, he just sits back and stares up at Liam with an arrogant expression. 

“Are you going to back out?” 

Theo meets Liam’s eyes, pleading with him to please not screw this up. Liam fumes, but his eyes soften the longer Theo stares at him. 

“I won’t back out.” He says finally, turning back to Theo’s father. 

“I didn’t think you would.” 

The king narrows his eyes at Theo, glancing between the two of them suspiciously. 

“I’m not living here.” Theo says quickly to distract him. 

“And why do you think that?” 

“We’re nowhere near the human world.” 

“Liam could-”   
“No, I refuse to be his chauffeur as well. I’m not a slave.” Liam growls, the heat in the room kicking up a notch. 

The king swallows. 

“Where do you have in mind?” He directs the question to Liam to Theo’s anger. 

Liam glances at Theo and a strand of magic presses against his arm. 

“Isn’t it up to Theo?” He asks.

The king sighs. 

“Theo?” He asks grudgingly. 

“I want to stay by my friends.” Theo mumbles.

His father glares at him.

“And where might that be.”

“They are in Los Angeles. It’s a good place anyway!” Theo says, a bit stronger. 

Liam nods in support. 

His father closes his eyes for a moment before he nods. 

“Fine. If you have a place in the next week you can live in Los Angeles.”

Theo smiles and nudges Liam’s foot with his own. Liam gives him a sharp look and crosses his legs out in front of him. 

“Are we done here?” Liam drawls, oozing contempt.

The king stands.

“Unless Theo has something to add?” 

Theo shakes his head and stumbles to his feet. 

“Liam.” He says with a nod to the witch. 

Liam grins and stretches a hand toward Theo. 

“To a long and exciting career together.”

Liam’s eyes shine with barely held back mirth, glittering like he’s asking Theo to be in on the joke. Theo arches an eyebrow at him and takes his hand. 

“It’ll be nothing for you, I’m sure.” He retorts. 

Liam’s eyes widen slightly with glee.    
“Guess that depends on you.”

As soon as Theo lets go of his hand Liam disappears, no theatrics, he’s just gone. Theo has a breathless moment as the magic level in the room drops and leaves him with shaking fingers. 

He stands stock still until he distantly realizes that his father it at the door.    
“I hope this is what you want, Theo, because I’m risking a lot for this.”

Then he sweeps out of the door without letting Theo say anything in return.

Theo grits his teeth. 

\------

 

Liam flops down on his couch as soon as he materializes in his apartment. He stares blankly at the ceiling and groans through his teeth. 

When he’d decided to go see Theo before the official meeting he’d forgotten about the early morning. And he wasn’t prepared for Theo. 

The Fey prince looked exactly how you would expect him to look, hazel eyes, perfect hair. Liam wanted to say that was all there was to him, a pretty face, but that would be a lie. 

~

_ When Theo opened the door, his hair still wet and an elegant coat sitting on his shoulders like it was designed specifically for him to wear, Liam had to take a second to reign his magic in before it smothered Theo. There was a quiet laugh behind him when Derek felt the sudden surge. Liam fixes his face and pastes on a grin.  _

_ “Theo Raeken.” _

_ “And who are you?” Theo sneers at him. _

_ Liam nearly panics when Theo starts to close the door and so he slaps his hand to the doorframe and smirks.  _

_ “My name’s Liam.” He says quickly.  _

_ Theo leans against the door, cool minty magic radiating from him.  _

_ “I wanted to talk to you privately.”  _

_ “Privately?”  _

_ Liam can feel Derek shaking beside him, and nearly turns to glare at him. It’s not funny that his magic is nearly out of control for the first time in centuries.  _

_ “Before we officially meet.” He sighs, curling wind around his fingers to let his magic out a bit.  _

_ That seems to shock Theo into motion because he stumbles back. Liam takes advantage and pushes forward, flipping Derek off just before he slips past the door.  _

_ “You’re the witch my father hired? How did he manage that?”  _

_ Liam wanders over to Theo’s dresser and starts playing with the trinkets on top, letting sparks dance from his fingers.  _

_ “I owed your family a favour, apparently this is big enough that he’d risk calling me.” He says absently, glancing over at Theo. _

_ He’s already staring at Liam with a strange look on his face, so Liam does the only thing he can and smirks harder, more sparks glowing blue around his hands.  _

_ “A risk?” Theo’s voice is a quiet rasp.  _

_ “People don’t often have good luck treating me like a common bodyguard.” He drawls just to see Theo shiver.  _

_ He drops the little glass gem in his hand and it floats back to the dresser. Theo stares at him as he walks closer, seeming to actually have trouble breathing when Liam loosens his hold on his magic.  _

_ “I’m old, Theo, nearly the oldest witch out there.” _

_ Theo shivers again and Liam smirks, he’s having a bit too much fun with this. He knows what the feeling of his power can do to people if he tries. The only thing that worries him is that he isn’t trying at all, if anything, he’s trying not to let Theo feel it at all.  _

_ “There’s magic practically coming out of my pores.” He says in a voice too sultry to be anything but on purpose.  _

_ Maybe not trying that hard then.  _

_ Theo steps back after a second too long, clearing his throat.  _

_ Liam turns away, hiding a smile, and goes back to wandering around the room.  _

_ “Anyway,” he starts, keeping his voice purposefully blank, “he must have decided that this was what he was going to use that favour for.” _

_ “Couldn’t you have said no?” Comes Theo’s voice, sounding angry.  _

_ “I don’t want someone following me around all the time.” _

_ Liam turns on his heel to face Theo.  _

_ “That’s what I’m here to talk to you about. I don’t like your father any more than you do.” _

_ Theo frowns at him and Liam just stares back, trying to show he means it.  _

_ Theo finally nods and gestures to his desk. _

_ “Let’s sit down then.” _

_ Liam settles in one of the chairs, leaning back and spreading out to take up the whole thing. It’s gratifying, how Theo watches with nearly unnerving intensity. He clears his throat. _

_ “Your best chance of freedom is with me. I don’t give a shit what your dad thinks of me, and I have more power in my HANDS then he could scrounge up in his entire kingdom. I won’t use you to get close to your father and I won’t report back or anything, but I need this debt gone.” _

_ Liam stares up at Theo when he’s done talking and sees the exact moment he decides to listen. Theo flops down on the chair on the other side of the desk with a groan. _

_ “Why do you need it gone?” He asks. _

_ Liam nearly laughs, because that is one of the most stupid questions he’s ever been asked, and after that one time in Norway he was pretty much immune to stupid questions.  _

_ “Would you really want to owe your father a favour that he could call in at any time?” Liam sighs, tilting his head to glare at the ceiling.  _

_ “You’ll let me do whatever?” Theo eventually asks.  _

_ “I’ll just be there when needed, in public or whatever.” Liam confirms, still staring at the ceiling.  _

_ The clock chimes and Liam finally looks back at Theo only to find him looking out the window. He just watches for a minute, talking in the width of his shoulders and the way his hair is curling slightly as it dries.  _

_ “My father is expecting me down in the courtyard in half an hour.”  _

_ Liam nods and leans forward.  _

_ “So we have an agreement? You won’t be difficult and I won’t be controlling?” He asks. _

_ Theo stretches a hand toward him with a nod.  _

_ “We do.” _

_ Liam takes Theo’s hand and then probably squeezes too tight as his magic rushes to his skin. He has to grit his teeth to stop his skin from actually glowing. He lets go as soon as he can and stands up. Gold sparks spray off his clothes and he surreptitiously shakes his hands out, feeling magic-born heat washing off every part of his body. He forces himself to grin and he prepares to leave.  _

_ “I’ll see you soon, Theo.” _

_ Then he pulls his magic to him and disappears- _

_ Just to reappear right outside Theo’s door.  _

_ “Derek!” He hisses to the guard outside the door. Derek doesn’t even flinch at his sudden appearance.  _

_ Liam still has sparks floating gently around him and he has to keep a tight rein on his magic so that it doesn’t seep straight back into Theo’s room and surround him like a protective bubble.  _

_ “Liam.” Derek says back calmly, but there’s a hint of a laugh under his words.  _

_ “What the fuck?!”  _

_ Derek’s blank mask finally breaks and he grins at Liam. _

_ “He’s not what you expected, is he.” He asks, and it’s not even a question. _

_ Liam growls and starts to pace the short width of the hallway.  _

_ “What is my magic doing?” He asks. “It’s never reacted like this. To anyone.” _

_ Derek strides toward him and puts a hand on his shoulder. _

_ “He does that to everyone the first time they see him. I don’t think he knows.” He explains quietly. “It should be gone the next time you see him.”  _

_ Liam looks up at his friend’s earnest eyes.  _

_ “What?”  _

_ “I don’t know what it is exactly.” Derek continues with a sigh. “It’s like how it’s supposed to be when you meet your magical match. Except that it doesn’t happen after the first time.” _

_ “You know how a match feels, Derek. That was nothing like a match.”  _

_ He sighs and runs a hand over his face.  _

_ “I know it wasn’t like a match, it was nothing like when I met Stiles. That’s just what other people say. ” _

_ Liam huffs, memories that he doesn’t want to relive clamouring for attention.  _

_ “It’s almost like his magic shifts to attract yours. It’s like a spell he does unconsciously.” _

_ “This doesn’t feel like something he’s doing. Unconsciously or not.” _

_ Derek shrugs.  _

_ “I don’t know what to tell you. All I can say is that pretty much everyone I’ve talked to has felt something similar, even when he was a baby.” _

_ Liam scoffs and goes back to pacing.  _

_ “Liam, go home. Relax.” Derek looks him up and down and grimaces. “Change. You look like you’ve worn those pants for the past three days. Maybe even slept in them.”  _

_ Liam sticks his tongue out and wrinkles his nose at Derek, but he nods.  _

_ “I’ll probably be late.” He says, managing a grin.  _

_ Derek laughs softly.  _

_ “When are you not.” _

~

 

Now that he’s home, Liam just wants to sleep. The fey king always drains his will to keep living, no matter which one it is. 

And the strange attraction to Theo hadn’t gone away. He’d spent the entire meeting either holding his magic back or raging inside at the king and practically sending his magic to sooth Theo. No one should look at their father like Theo had, even if they’re a king. 

Liam sighs and drags himself up to his feet. He wanders over to the window and leans on the sill, pressing his forehead to the glass.    
His magic bounces around the apartment, filling the corners and then sliding down the walls to pool by his feet. It’s been lively and loud since he let it free, and he can feel the edges searching for something. Theo. 

When he’d popped into existence in front of the king he’d expected to be able to ignore Theo and just focus on annoying  _ his Royal Highness _ . Instead, as soon as he’d stopped using it his magic had swarmed at Theo with single-minded intent. He’d had to tense every muscle in his body so that it hadn’t knocked Theo over with the sudden shock of power. Then he’d smirked at Theo for good measure. Derek had looked worried briefly from his spot behind Theo. 

It was quite possibly one of the worst hours of his very long life. 

There’s a knock on the door behind him and then Stiles’ voice comes loud and obnoxious, Liam groans and buries his head in his arms. 

“Liam! If you don’t open the door we’re just coming in!” Stiles yells. 

“You’d have to get through the wards, Stiles.” Liam calls back, slightly muffled. 

Stiles laughs sharply but it’s Scott that speaks. 

“We know all your tricks by now, Liam.”

Liam groans again and stands up. He doesn’t really want to go through the effort of setting up the complex spells around his apartment again. Knowing Stiles he’d just rip them apart instead of disabling them. He opens the door just as Stiles’ eyes shift to red. 

“Stop! I’m right here!” Liam yelps, making Scott grin.

“What? You don’t want to put all that excess energy to use?” Stiles asks.

He’s only partly teasing, Liam knows, because his eyes are still red and he’s staring around with a frown. 

“Your magic, Liam.” Scott breathes, seeming to finally notice the way it was pushing up against his own.

“Derek mentioned something happened but, Liam? What’s this?” 

Liam sighs and gestures for them to come in.

“It’s been like this since I met the fey prince.” He explains, flicking his fingers to get it to stop suffocating his friends. 

Stiles gives him a calculating look.

“It doesn’t feel like…”

“No.” Liam interrupts sharply. 

Scott puts a hand on his shoulder. 

“This,” he starts, waving a hand around to encompass the way Liam’s magic is sticking to the ceiling, “isn’t normal for you. You have the most control of any witch I’ve ever met.”

Liam nods and shakes the hand off. He sinks down into his couch and covers his eyes. 

“I don’t know how I’m going to manage being his bodyguard.”

Scott sits down beside him and pulls him into his side. 

Stiles wanders around the room press his hands against the magic in the corners like it’s solid. 

“You don’t have to do this. You know that right?” Scott says quietly. 

Liam curls closer.    
“I’d honestly forgotten that I owed the family a favour.” He mutters. 

Stiles snorts from where he’s elbow deep in Liam’s magic. Liam sparks him and Stiles yelps, turning around to glare at him. 

“I made the promise nearly a thousand years ago.” Liam explains, giggling when Stiles shakes his hands out. 

Scott taps the side of his head gently. 

“Stop being mean to Stiles, he’s trying to help.”

Liam sighs. 

“I don’t think there’s anything he can do.” 

Stiles flops down on the couch beside them, nearly landing on Liam and elbowing him in the side. Liam groans and curls in on himself protectively. 

“You’d think with how long you’ve been alive you’d have some control over your limbs.” He moans. 

Stiles laughs, bright and loud, before running his fingers through Liam’s hair. Liam grins against Scott’s shirt. 

“We’ll figure it out.” Scott whispers. 

Liam nods and shuts his eyes, feeling his magic droop and curl closer to him, relaxed for the first time today. 

“I hope so.” He sighs. 


	3. April 11

Theo walks out of the palace for what he hopes is the last time for a while three days later. 

Liam is standing beside his father just inside the gates with a serious look on his face. 

The king is glaring at Liam, which Theo isn’t really surprised by. He turns his glare on Theo as he gets closer. 

“I can’t believe you’re actually just abandoning your duties like this.” He hisses. 

Theo sneers back at his father, walking to stand beside Liam. 

“They aren’t worth staying for.”

His father’s nostrils flare and he draws himself up. 

“You don’t deserve to be a prince.” 

Theo flinches and beside him Liam tenses, the sticky feeling of magic seeping into the air. 

“I never had a choice.” He chokes out before reaching for Liam’s arm. 

When he meets Liam’s eyes he’s staring at Theo with a strange expression. 

“How are we leaving?” Theo says, ignoring the look for now. 

Liam blinks and the gives him a wicked grin. 

“So long,  _ Jonathan _ .” He calls. 

He grabs Theo’s hand and then his magic pours through Theo, making every nerve in his body tingle. Suddenly they’re in Los Angeles.

Theo stumbles as soon as Liam lets go of him. 

“That was dramatic.” He gasps, bent over on what appears to be a sidewalk. 

There’s only a laugh from Liam. When Theo finally manages to straighten up and the world stops spinning he finds Liam smirking at him. 

“First time?” He drawls, and there’s some kind of suggestion there. 

Theo wrinkles his nose at Liam, but doesn’t answer. Liam turns away and makes a grand gesture, waving his arms around in a way that’s both ridiculous and kind of charming. 

“Welcome to Los Angeles.” He proclaims.

Theo glances around. It’s loud and kind of dirty. Nothing like the pristine grass and jewel sky of the fey kingdom. 

He kind of loves it. 

Liam rolls his eyes when Theo starts to truly grin. 

“Let’s get going, princeling.” 

Theo isn’t even mad at him. Liam eventually has to grab his arm and drag him along because he won’t stop staring at everything. 

It takes Theo a few blocks to remember he’s supposed to be cool. Liam snorts when he pulls his hand away but doesn’t stop him. 

“Is it everything you expected?” Liam asks after a moment. 

Theo fights to keep the giddy smile off his face. 

“Yeah.” He says shortly, voice shaking with the effort of not yelling it. 

In his defence, he’s been waiting for this for at least a century. 

“Where are we going?” He asks after a moment. 

Liam stops in front of a tall building. 

It rises higher than the buildings nearby, glass and brick standing out strangely against the shiny metal stores and studios around it. 

“This is where we’re going to live.” Liam explains, striding toward the door without waiting for Theo. 

Theo frowns and hurries after him. 

“I thought-”

“I’m not sleeping on your friend’s sofa.”

Theo huffs.

“How are we going to pay for this?” He asks, gazing around the lobby. 

“I think my bank account will survive.” Liam says, not looking at him. 

Theo looks at Liam’s ripped up jeans and the hole in the elbow of his hoodie and raises an eyebrow. 

“Really.” 

Liam doesn’t meet his eyes. 

“People pay a lot for the things I can do.” He mutters. 

Theo frowns at the witch.    
“What kind of things do they pay you for?” He asks suspiciously. 

Liam shakes his head. 

“It doesn’t matter.” 

Theo can tell he doesn’t want to talk about it, but he doesn’t want to let it go. It’s the first weakness he’s seen Liam show, and if there’s one thing he knows, it’s that knowing someone’s faults and the mistakes they’ve made is always a good thing. But for some reason, he doesn’t press. 

Liam meets his eyes with an almost grateful look before stomping over to the bored looking woman standing by an office. Theo stumbles a bit at the bright smile Liam puts on as they get closer to the woman.

“Melissa!” He calls, giving her a hug. 

The woman’s, Melissa, he assumes, face melts into a grin. 

“Liam,” she says warmly, “how are you?”

“I’m definitely better than the last time you saw me.” Liam says with a soft laugh. 

Theo glances between the two of them with narrowed eyes.

“And who are you?” Melissa asks, turning to squint at him. 

Unexpectedly, Theo’s words fail him. Out here he’s not sure how to introduce himself, his name might mean nothing to people, or it could get him seriously hurt. Not that he thinks Liam would let that happen. 

“Um.” 

Liam looks at him with a puzzled expression before he seems to understand. 

“This is my latest stray, Theo.” He answers with a grin and a sigh. 

Melissa smiles at Theo. 

“Hello, Theo. I’m Liam’s-” she pauses, then continues like it’s a question. “Best friend’s mother?” 

Liam reaches out to pull Theo closer. Theo really doesn’t know what to think. Is this something Liam does often? Bring in lost, not that Theo would call himself lost, people and have them stay in his fancy apartment? Either way, the press of his body is distracting and his magic is starting to congeal on Theo’s tongue like syrup. 

“Melissa is basically my mother at this point.” He whispers in Theo’s ear, apparently pretending not to hate him. 

“Oh.” 

Theo is practically falling over from the combination of Liam’s magic wrapping around him and his arm around Theo’s shoulders.  Melissa looks slightly worried when Theo tips to the side and Liam’s arm has to tighten to keep him standing. 

“Liam.” She says warningly.

Liam seems to realize what’s wrong when Theo grabs his hand. 

“Shit!” 

He practically leaps away from Theo, frowning in concentration. Theo would be offended if he wasn’t gasping in air and shaking a bit as Liam’s magic drains out of the air. Melissa puts a hand on his shoulder and frowns down at him as he tries to catch his breath. Liam doesn’t move from his place halfway across the lobby. 

“Liam?” Melissa asks without taking her eyes off him. 

Liam coughs awkwardly and Theo finally straightens just to frown at him. He looks faintly apologetic and kind of scared. 

“What the  _ fuck  _ was that?” Theo hisses, his brain function coming back.

Liam shrugs like it doesn’t matter and he doesn’t care, but his eyes are wide and nervous. Theo makes to stalk over to him but Melissa tightens the hand on his shoulder. He glares back at her, but now that Liam is farther away he can feel the waves of magic under her skin and the air around her smells like sea salt. He sinks back onto his heels but stares intently at Liam. 

“Liam?” Melissa asks again, softer than the first time. 

“I-” Liam swallows, “I don’t know.”

Theo notices that his shoulders are drawn up and there’s tension in every line of his body. He looks like he’s struggling to hold something back. Melissa must see it as well because she sniffs suspiciously and narrows her eyes. 

“I don’t want to talk about it now.” Liam says quickly when it looks like she’s going to push.

“We’ll talk later.” Melissa says sternly.

Liam nods. 

“Do you have my key?” Liam asks after a moment.

There’s a rush of magic and Melissa twists her wrist. When she opens her hand there’s a key sitting there. Theo sighs to himself, witches can’t just, you know, have keys in a drawer or something. 

Liam nods gratefully, stepping forward quickly to grab it out of her hand. Melissa grabs his wrist quickly when he tries to step back. 

“If you try to avoid me, just remember I’ve known you for nearly as long as you’ve been alive.” 

It sounds vaguely like a threat. 

Liam nods and pastes on what even Theo can tell is a fake smile. 

“Of course.” 

He practically drags Theo out of the room into the elevator. 

Theo can’t feel Liam’s magic at all, which is almost more disturbing than the incident a few moments ago. 

Liam slumps against the wall of the elevator once the doors close and shuts his eyes. 

“Where’s your magic?” Theo blurts out. 

Liam opens one eye to peer at him. The blue is so bright Theo wonders if it’s natural or if Liam is doing something. He presses a hand to his chest. 

Now that he points it out, Theo can feel it. But it’s dull and coiled tight instead of sprawled out and floating around in lazy tangles like it has been. 

“What are you doing to make it so, contained?” 

“It’s a spell. We used it to hide in the witch huntings.” Liam grits out.

“It takes a lot of effort.” He continues at Theo’s strange look. 

“You don’t have to.” Theo says after a quiet moment. 

Liam shakes his head. 

“You don’t understand.” He says flatly, and Theo is suddenly irrationally angry.

“You’re right.” He says sulkily, “I don’t understand. But whatever. Drain yourself keeping your magic in check. I don’t care.”

Liam doesn’t reply, and they ride to their floor in silence. 

\------

 

As soon as Liam gets the door open he practically sprints to his room. 

There’s a coil of magic in his lungs and he breathes deeply to try and ease it. It doesn’t work. 

The way he’d lost control was unnerving. Liam has never gone that intense on someone that wasn’t prepared for it. And the way Theo had just sank into it was slightly worrying. Usually doing something like that, drowning someone in magic, made the other person’s magic fight back, even if they only had a minuscule amount of power. Theo’s had almost welcomed him, actually holding on when he’d finally realized and pulled back. It scared him a bit. The only way he could think to control it was to lock it away like he’d had to when he was in Europe during the witch hunts. Even humans could sense the most powerful, so he’d spent several years with next to no magic hiding in plain sight. 

Liam can hear Theo banging around in the other bedroom, and knows that the fey prince is still angry. Liam doesn’t really understand why. 

Liam sinks down onto his bed and sighs. Theo had looks furious when he’d refused to undo the spell. He can’t though, Theo truly doesn’t understand the danger. 

Suddenly there’s a knock and his door. 

Liam looks up and there’s Theo, standing with an arm braced against the doorframe. 

“I’m sorry.” 

Liam frowns at Theo.

“Are you feeling okay?” He asks.

Theo looks at his feet. 

“I really am though. And we’re going to be living together, so we should try and not fight. Right?” 

Liam can’t even say anything. 

“Are you sure that I didn’t like, knock a part of you out?” He manages eventually. 

“You’re making this very hard.” Theo grits, finally looking up. 

Liam can’t help but grin. 

“There we go.”

“I don’t know why I bothered.” Theo sighs, but he’s smiling as well. 

He stares intently at Liam for a moment. 

“You look different.” He says.

Liam blinks. 

“Oh.” 

“Is it the magic?”

Liam blinks again. Most people don’t even notice, let alone figure it out. 

“Yeah. It’s a part of me, so I look- less? when it’s locked up.” 

Theo steps into his room, even though Liam didn’t invite him and he didn’t ask. Liam doesn’t move or tell him to go away though. Theo sits down beside him.

“It’s weird.” He mumbles, and Liam almost doesn’t hear. 

But he does, and he has to stop and take a breath. 

“You look dull.”

“Thanks, man.” Liam says wryly. 

Theo rolls his eyes. 

“Shut up.” 

Liam doesn’t know what to say, so the silence just drags on.

Eventually Theo gets up. 

“I was thinking we could go out with my friends later.” He says, and it’s almost a question. 

Regardless, Liam nods. 

“I’ll call mine as well, we can have a full on party.”

“You have friends?” Theo asks with a smirk before he stands up at sprints out the door. 

“Hey!” Liam yells, laughing, and tosses a pillow after him. 

He might cheat and use some magic to whack it into the back of Theo’s head. No one has to know. 

\------

 

It’s late by the time they decide where they’re going out. Theo had made Liam hop in and out of the palace with his stuff, and Theo’s friends were too excited to actually meet him to agree on a place. Finally, Liam had sighed and grabbed his hand. 

They appear in an alleyway that smells like grease and salt. 

“This isn’t a restaurant.” Theo observes. 

“We aren’t going to a fancy restaurant tonight.” Liam grumbles and pulls them through the door under a fluorescent sign reading ‘Mcdonalds’. 

Theo frowns. 

“But our friends-”

“Will be perfectly happy to eat at our new apartment.” Liam interrupts.

Theo is silent for so long that Liam looks back and offers him a smile. He doesn’t seem to notice that he’s still got a tight grip on Theo’s hand or that his magic is twisting it’s way up Theo’s arm.

There’s no one in line in front of them so they walk straight up to the counter. Liam gives Theo an expectant look and Theo just stares back helplessly. Liam’s eyes widen.   
“Have you never had Mcdonalds?” He asks in a whisper. 

Theo shakes his head. You’d think it was some kind of crime with the way Liam was looking at him. 

“Are you guys going to order?” The cashier asks in a bored voice. 

Liam turns away to look her straight in the face.

“I’ll have one of everything.” 

She doesn’t even look surprised by his request, although she does raise an eyebrow. 

“That’s $145, Sir.” She says.

Theo squeezes Liam’s hand.    
“What are you doing?” He hisses. 

“Letting you live.” Liam answers.

He doesn’t seem very serious, in fact, he’s shaking a bit and the grin on his face is ridiculous. 

Theo narrows his eyes at him but Liam avoids his eyes. 

“You two are going to have to wait a while.” The girl behind the counter drawls. 

Liam smiles at her.

“It’s not a problem.” 

The girl rolls her eyes and turns away to shout at someone in the back. 

Liam turns back to Theo. He’s still grinning, and his hand is still tight around Theo’s. Theo breaths in carefully and squeezes Liam’s fingers. Emotions fly across Liam’s face faster then Theo can read before he abruptly drops Theo’s hand. The warmth of his magic disappears quickly as well. 

“Let’s get a table. Tell your friends to come over in an hour.” He says quietly before taking out his phone.

Theo feels something like hurt before he squashes it and digs his own phone out of his pocket. 

**_To ‘Theo’s free!’ group:_ **

**_Theo_ ** _ : Liam says to meet us at our apartment in an hour _

**_Lydia_ ** _ : Making friends without us Theo? _

**_Malia_ ** _ : where even is your apartment _

Theo grins at his phone before answering Malia. The replies come in fast. 

**_Malia_ ** _ : fancy place for a fancy prince _

**_Lydia_ ** _ : who IS Liam again? _

**_Theo_ ** _ : you know perfectly well who Liam is _

**_Lydia_ ** _ : ah yea. your bodyguard _

**_Malia_ ** _ : Ha!!! _

**_Theo_ ** _ : Just be there pls _

**_Malia_ ** _ : I wouldn’t miss meeting someone who annoys you almost as much as we like to:))))) _

**_Theo_ ** _ : I hate you.  _

**_Malia_ ** _ : :( _

**_Lydia_ ** _ : You’re both children _

When Theo looks up Liam has a soft look on his face. He looks away when he sees that Theo is staring back and shakes his head before coughing into his fist and blanking his expression . Theo watches it all with a strange fascination. 

“You should start thinking about writing for that album.” Liam says. 

At the mention of music Theo grins and starts waving his hands around excitedly. 

“I’ve got most of it written, I think?” He starts. 

“Of course, I don’t really know if it’s any good, because my father stopped letting me take any kind of music lessons as soon as I started to show too much interest in them.”

Liam gets an angry look on his face and his magic spreads out from his body so that Theo can feel it again. Theo doesn’t really notice the tendrils of magic wrapping around his ankles; until he says something about his father just wanting him to be a good ruler and they tighten until they feel a bit like they’re burning into his skin. 

“He doesn’t want you to be a good ruler. He wants you to be a slave.” Liam says, his words short and angry. 

Theo blinks. 

“He wants you to be exactly like him. Even when he’s giving in, he’s punishing you.”

“Yeah? Even this time? I’ve won, Liam!” Theo says desperately.

He’d been trying not to think about how he needed his father’s permission to leave the stupid castle. 

“Why do you think I’m here?” Liam asks cruelly. 

Theo sits back in his seat, not even having realized that he’d been leaning toward Liam in the first place.

“I know why you’re here.” Theo mumbles, looking down at the plastic table.

Liam’s magic seizes around his ankle, but Liam doesn’t say anything. They sit in silence until the food is ready. 

———

 

Theo’s friends get there before Liam’s, and soon the room is full of Lydia’s slow voice and Malia’s loud laughter. Liam is smiling despite himself, both at Theo, who’s grinning like mad, and because of how utterly unashamed Theo’s friends are. The first thing Lydia asked him when she walked in the door was if he’d set Theo’s dad on fire yet. Malia had appeared behind her with a sharp grin that Liam finds himself nearly afraid of even though he can tell she’s mostly human. 

Liam jumps when the air around him suddenly heats up in an alarmingly fast amount of time.

“Hello Liam.” 

Stiles throws an arm around his shoulders and grins obnoxiously. Liam sighs but smiles back reluctantly. 

“Hi Stiles.”

“Is that loverboy?” 

Liam smacks his hand away. 

“Shut up.”

Stiles laughs and dances away. 

“You aren’t denying it.” 

Liam scowls and flicks a spark at Stiles. 

“Where’s Scott.” Liam asks in a sulky voice when Stiles just laughs at him. 

“He’s coming.” 

Theo seems to notice Liam talking to someone before he turns around. 

“Hello.” He says to Stiles. 

Stiles grins back and strides over to shake his hand. 

“Hello, Princeling.” 

Theo jerks back and scowls at Stiles. He shoots Liam and incredulous look and Liam can’t help but laugh. 

“Who are you?” Theo asks, now glaring at both of them.

“You didn’t tell him about me? I’m hurt, Liam.” Stiles says dramatically. 

Liam smirks at Stiles. 

“Theo, this is Stiles. Someone I’ve barely tolerated for nearly as long as I’ve been alive.” 

“Such high praise.” 

Stiles pretends to swoon. 

Theo looks like he’s contemplating murder. His friends just look amused. 

Just when Liam is getting worried that Theo is going to say something that would actually make Stiles mad, the room reaches near freezing just as fast as it had heated up when Stiles appeared. Then Scott is standing beside him. Stiles’ face transforms into something soft and vulnerable when Scott appears. Liam has always been slightly suspicious about that. The most amusing thing, though, is how Malia’s jaw nearly drops. Liam gets it. Scott is a long way from the boy he first met at his apprenticeship. Liam’s got distracted one too many times looking at him. 

Scott ignores it all and walks right up to Theo, offering his hand and a bright smile. 

“I’m Scott McCall.”

Theo blinks and robotically takes Scott’s hand. Liam feels something twist in his gut at the awe in Theo’s face. He’s so focused on Theo that he almost misses the way Scott’s magic surges when he touches Theo’s hand. But he doesn’t miss it, and he can see the exact moment that Scott boxes up his magic because his smile goes pinched around the edges and his eyes scrunch a bit. 

Stiles meets his eye with a raised eyebrow. Liam shrugs. 

The room is loud as the girls introduce themselves. Liam moves to sit on the couch, a soft, slightly overstuffed thing that he’s had for years. Usually this apartment was empty, Liam had bought it a good hundred years ago as a safe house of sorts. It’s been an odd day, so he closes his eyes, tuning out voices until they’re just a steady hum. He’s nearly asleep, leaning against the arm of the chair, when Scott sits down beside him. He knows that it’s Scott because the air kind of tastes like mint when he’s beside you. 

“That was really weird.” Scott says quietly. 

Liam can feel Scott’s eyes on the side of his head, but doesn’t open his own. 

“It’s like he was pulling my magic out of me.” Scott continues when Liam doesn’t say anything. 

Scott taps him with a tendril of what feels like ice. Liam grumbles. 

“Is that how it feels for you?” Scott insists. 

“Kind of.” Liam sighs, squeezing his eyes tighter. 

The tendril pokes him again and he flicks his finger to spark Scott. 

“What’s different for you?” 

Scott sounds like he’s about to laugh. 

“I don’t know. It just feels like  _ I’m _ reaching for  _ him _ .” 

“But you aren’t.” 

Liam shakes his head and curls into himself. 

“He’s watching you, you know.” Scott says thoughtfully. 

Liam cracks one eye open and sure enough, Theo is watching him with a slightly worried air. Liam forces his lips into a kind of smile just to get him to look away. 

“Are you okay?” Scott asks. 

Liam sighs and contorts him body until he can see Scott. 

“It’s just. Really exhausting.” He mumbles. “I have to be really careful not to let my magic overwhelm him, which means I’m holding it locked up like we used to have to in the witch hunting years.”

Scott grimaces. 

“No wonder you look like you walked halfway around the world.”

Liam smiles tiredly. 

“Sorry it’s not much of a party.” 

Scott laughs and pats his shoulder. 

“It’s fine Liam.”

Even though his magic is freezing, Scott’s hand is reassuringly warm. 

“Are you going to eat?” Scott asks after a moment. 

Liam shakes his head. 

“I think I’m actually just going to go to bed.” He says quietly. 

The thought of having to sit through any more time of Theo looking bright and happy is insurmountably exhausting.

“Don’t let Stiles say anything stupid, please.” 

Scott stands up and pulls him up as well. 

“I’ll watch him. You go get some sleep, I bet you’ve hardly gotten any the last few days.” 

Scott is right, Liam hadn’t been able to sleep, too much running through his head, theories and ideas jumping faster then he could comprehend. 

“G’night.” He whispers and sluggishly plods down the hallway to the bedrooms. 

Theo finds him while he’s brushing his teeth. 

“Are you okay?” Is the first thing he says. 

Liam thinks he sees his eyes sweep his body but shoves those thoughts away. He tugs on the neckline of his tank top and nods, mechanically scrubbing his teeth. 

“Why aren’t you out there with everyone?”

If Liam listens he can hear Stiles laughing and one of the girls talking quickly. 

“I’m just tired, Theo. I haven’t slept well recently.” Liam sighs. 

It’s not the whole truth, but it’s definitely not a lie. 

Theo nods, but doesn’t leave. 

“Are you going to let me sleep?” Liam groans. 

Theo’s cheeks flush and he looks at his feet. 

“Yeah.” 

Liam hums and spits into the sink. 

“G’night.” Theo mumbles. 

Liam smiles at him in the mirror. 

“Yeah. Good night.”

When Liam tumbles into his bed ten minutes later, Theo’s pink cheeks are still in his head. 


	4. April 16

Theo finally gets to write with the team Malia’s father has put together five days later. 

He walks into the studio with Liam trailing several steps behind him and his heart racing from nerves. 

The studio itself isn’t that impressive. It’s more homey than luxurious. There’s several couches around the wall, some pushed up against the wall and one just sitting right in the middle of the floor. There’s various instruments around the room, a drum set in one corner, a piano against one wall, and several guitars hanging on the wall beside it. The walls are painted a light blue, with a glass window on the far wall leading to the actual recording studio. He can see another piano pushed against the wall in the recording room and a vocal mic hanging from the ceiling in the middle of it. There’s two doors beside the window, presumably leading to the recording booth and the control room.

Theo stops just inside the door, a little overwhelmed by everything. Liam pushes past him with a quiet laugh. 

When Theo can finally focus he notices that Lydia is sitting on one of the couches cradling a guitar and strumming softly. 

“Hello Theo.” She says when she notices him watching her, laughter under her voice. 

“I didn’t know you played.” 

She smiles at him, red lips twitching like she wants to laugh.

“You never asked.”

Liam snorts from where he’s settled into the couch in the corner behind the door.

“You didn’t ask your friends in the music industry if they played an instrument?” 

Theo glares at him.

“I thought she just played the piano.” He sulks. 

“It’s okay.” Lydia interrupts their staring match. 

When Theo turns back to her she’s looking between the two of them speculatively. He opens his mouth but Lydia narrows her eyes and she aggressively plucks at the strings. Theo shuts up and walks over to sit across from her. She begins to pick out a familiar melody. Theo starts to hum along. 

This, at least, is familiar. They’ve had many video calls where it’s just Lydia tinkling on the piano and him singing or humming along, an open notebook in front of him. This is one of the few songs he’s finished and been happy with, although it sounds different on the guitar. He liked it more this way. 

When he looks up Liam is still watching him. 

“Is this one of yours?” He asks softly. 

Theo nods and then starts to sing quietly. 

This particular song Theo had written after his last partner had left him. He’s starting on the second chorus, but it doesn’t really matter. 

_ “Step over torn up letters on my floor, _

_ Confessions, obsessions, pent up aggressions.” _

Liam’s eyes widen when he actually starts singing. Theo tilts his chin up and sings properly, a little annoyed and a lot disappointed that Liam didn’t appear to believe in him. 

_ “Is it a thing that was meant to be _

_ Or was it just me, _

_ Holding hope in my hands.” _

The door slams open and Theo shuts his mouth abruptly, the room suddenly seeming too small. 

Malia tumbles through the doorway laughing. She’s followed by two boys wearing flannels and ankle-high boots. 

“Corey?!” Theo exclaims, shooting to his feet. 

The boy who looks like a much older Corey jerks around to look at him with wide eyes. 

“You’re the Theo we’re working with?” 

Theo laughs. Everyone else in the room stares between the two of them with puzzled expressions. 

“We used to play together when we were about the human equivalent of seven.” Theo explains happily. 

Corey nods. 

“Your father didn’t mention a last name! I’d have agreed much faster if he had.” 

Theo finds himself grinning at where Liam’s sprawled out on the sofa. Liam’s watching him with something unreadable in his eyes. He doesn’t look away. Corey startles Theo by touching him shoulder. He doesn’t know when he got so close. Corey was always good at moving around unseen, it pissed Theo off when they played hide and seek. 

“I want you to meet Mason.” Corey says quietly, gesturing to the boy who’d came in with him. “He’s my bonded.” 

Theo feels his eyes widen without his permission. 

“Really?” 

Corey nods. 

Mason looks nervous from beside Corey, and Theo is sure he can see a flush even on his dark skin. 

“Hello Theo.” Mason says. 

He sounds like someone right for Corey, he has confidence under his words. 

“It’s good to meet you.” Theo replies, grinning as he extends a hand. 

The girls start chattering behind him and Theo turns to look at them once Mason releases his hand. They grin back at him. 

“Are we ready to start this thing?” 

Everyone cheers. 

———

 

Liam finds himself dozing in corner. It’s not because he’s tired or that it’s quiet, he’s just been sitting here for at least six hours while Theo laughs and gestures wildly as Lydia and the boy named Corey play around on their guitars. 

For a while it’d been cool, fascinating actually, to listen to Theo hum out a melody and then sing along as the other two picked it out. Then they’d just kept doing the same bits for hours. There’s only so many times you can listen to the same line over and over again. 

Liam didn’t know songwriting was so BORING. 

After about the fiftieth time running the same line Liam finally groans and sits up. 

“Guys we’ve been here for too long.” He announces. 

He’s met with five blank stares. He sighs. 

“We need to eat at least. Take a break.”

Liam finally just stands up and walks to the door. The other four look back to the giant piece of paper on the table, but Theo continues to watch him. Liam raises an eyebrow.

“You can leave if you want to.” Theo says. 

Liam laughs and shakes his head. 

“You know I can’t.” 

Lydia looks at him then. 

“We can watch him while you go for a walk or whatever.”

Theo glares at her, but he doesn’t look that mad. Liam sighs. 

“I’m spelling it so you can’t leave.” 

Theo jerks to look at him. 

“You can’t do that!”

Liam raises an eyebrow and then he pushes his magic around the room, making a watery film along the walls. 

“I’ll be back soon.” He says, possibly enjoying the disbelief on Theo’s face a bit too much. 

Lydia and Malia look like they’re about to burst out laughing. Theo starts to stand up, he looks furious. 

“Liam-“ 

Liam pulls himself away. 

-

He walks back in the door about three hours later to find Theo alone on the couch picking at a guitar with a little wrinkle between his eyebrows. He looks calm. Theo doesn’t look up, not even when the door shuts, although his fingers stutter on the strings. 

“Are you ignoring me?” Liam asks, walking over to stand in front on him. 

Theo huffs but still doesn’t say anything. 

Liam sighs and flops down on the chair opposite him, letting the multiple bags in his arms fall to the floor. 

“Well. I brought food, but if you’re going to be like that I might just leave you here overnight.” He says irritably. 

“I’ve been sitting here alone for at least an hour.” Theo grumbles. 

He plays a sad sounding chord and then looks up. 

“You were gone for awhile.” He says and it’s kind of a question. 

Liam answers him anyway. 

“I got some stuff for the apartment.” 

Theo looks kind of dejected, which is something Liam didn’t ever think he’d see. 

“Why do you look like that?” He asks warily. 

Theo immediately straightens out his face and raises an eyebrow. 

“Like what?”

Liam frowns and leans forward. 

“You know what I mean.” 

Theo won’t meet his eyes and they just sit quietly for a moment. 

“I guess I’ve just. I’ve always thought I’d like to finally be alone.” He mumbles finally. 

Liam is hit by the realization that living in a palace like he did, surrounded by servants and other members of the royal family or just important fey, Theo had probably never really been alone. Even when he needed to be he still had duties and responsibilities. 

Theo is staring at him when Liam pulls himself out of his head. 

“I didn’t really like it at all.” Theo says when Liam meets his eyes. 

There’s something weird in Theo’s eyes that Liam can’t bear. He clears his throat and looks away. 

“Even my company is preferable?” He jokes. 

Theo laughs hollowly. 

“It would seem so.”

Liam doesn’t know how to reply. This wasn’t anything he was prepared for. Eventually he just stands up and gathers all the bags together with a bit of magic. 

“Come on.” He says impatiently when Theo doesn’t stand up. “We’re going home.” 

Theo eventually stands up and takes his hand. 


	5. May 1

The next two weeks pass by in roughly the same fashion; they head to the studio in the morning, and Liam flops down in the corner and occupies himself by twisting magic around his fingers and prodding at the other people in the room, mostly Theo, to see how much it took before they snapped and yelled at him. Theo works through his notebook with Corey and Mason, sometimes Lydia or Malia, and fills nearly an entire new one. 

By the time May comes around they’ve got three songs that Theo is ready to record. 

When he steps into the booth on the far wall there’s a moment where he doesn’t know what he’s doing. It’s taken him so long to get here and now he’s standing in an actual recording booth with the entire team sitting outside and professional headphones sitting on a table under the microphone. Mason and Lydia had recorded a rough instrumental version of the song yesterday so that he could try out the vocals. 

One of the three guys Malia brought in to help with recording and mixing gives him a thumbs up. Theo takes a deep breath and picks the headphones up. 

When the piano starts he relaxes. This part is familiar, they’ve played this particular song over and over with him singing along. 

He closes his eyes and lets the words pour out. 

———

 

Liam watches with wide eyes as Theo hits yet another high note. He’s been in the room for probably thirty minutes now, trying out different cadences and styles over the instruments. 

Malia nods and there’s a bright grin on her face when she turns to one of the guys Lydia brought, Liam thinks his name is Brad. 

In the booth Theo pauses for a moment and opens his eyes. He immediately looks right at Liam. Liam forces his face into a more neutral expression, but by the look Theo gives him he thinks he’s probably failing. He looks away pretty quickly and has to stop his magic from making sparks. Lydia starts talking excitedly to Brad about something and Malia presses a couple of buttons. Liam has to take a few deep breaths and sit down to gather his thoughts. 

The thing is, Theo sounds amazing. Like, transcending what a human being is capable of amazing. Liam knows that if he wasn’t a supernatural he’d probably be begging at Theo’s feet. It’s a strange feeling to not be the most powerful person in the room. The other two guys that Lydia brought with her had had to leave after only five minutes. Lydia and Malia are wearing headphones, but Brad must be at least part fey. 

“How did you think the last take was?” Comes Theo’s voice through the speakers. 

Liam looks up then, and finds Theo still looking right at him. He clears his throat over the clamour of the others in the room nearly shouting in their excitement. 

“You need to figure out if you can turn off the Fey part of your voice.” He says when they quiet down. 

Theo blinks at him but Liam just raises an eyebrow. 

“What thing?” 

“You know what thing.” 

Theo genuinely looks confused, which just makes Liam confused. He had to know. Right? Although Derek said he was pretty oblivious about the effect he had on magic users, so maybe not. 

“The luring thing. Why do you think Lydia and Malia are only listening to you through the headphones?”

Theo’s expression changes to guilty so fast Liam has to do a double take. 

“I thought I’d outgrown that.” He mumbles. 

Liam frowns and him and stands up. Theo is looking at his feet and twisting his fingers. 

“You don’t outgrow things like that.” Liam says, still frowning. 

“You’ve never learned to control it?” He asks after a moment. 

Theo shakes his head and still won’t meet Liam’s eyes. Liam sighs. 

“I’m just going to go talk to him for a second.” He tells Lydia before walking out the door. 

He walks into the recording studio a moment later. Theo looks up when he walks in. 

“What are you doing?” He asks. 

Liam squints at him. 

“I’m just going to put a sort of shield around you until you learn to control your voice.”

Theo frowns and opens his mouth. Before he can speak Liam pushes the spell at him. Theo freezes and then Liam senses his body go lax just before he collapses. Liam has a split second to be surprised before he reacts. 

Liam catches him with a grunt just before he hits the floor. Lydia taps the glass loudly and he spares her what he hopes is a reassuring look. 

He pulls Theo back up to standing. 

“Are you okay?” He asks quietly. 

Theo looks a bit dazed but he nods. 

“Is it normal to feel like this?” He asks, slurring a bit. 

Liam can only shake his head. Theo doesn’t seem worried, just giggles and pats his arm. 

“Thanks for catching me.”

Liam frowns down at the boy in his arms. His eyes are a bit too dark, the pupil wide, and there’s sweat around his hairline. 

“Theo, are you sure you’re okay?” He asks again, worry making his hands shake slightly.

If he’d lost control…

“I feel fine. Great, actually!” Theo exclaims, sounding thrilled.

“I can’t really feel my fingers though!” He adds. 

Liam sighs. He sounds drunk. 

It’s not something that happens very often, but it has happened before. Not with such a small spell though. Getting magic drunk usually only happens to humans, and then only if you really push their capabilities. But when it happens it can take ages to wear off. 

“I’ve got to get him home.” He calls, looking up through the window. 

Lydia nods and then the speaker crackles to life. 

“You go home, we’ll probably be here a bit longer playing with stuff.”

Liam nods at her and then looks down at Theo, who’s now got his face buried in Liam’s neck. It’s probably not really a good idea to expose him to more magic, but Liam needs to get him home quickly, before the high runs out and crash happens. 

So he closes his eyes and grips Theo as tight as he can before twisting his magic around them. 

They stumble into a wall when they materialize in the apartment. Theo huffs when the wall hits his back, and Liam blinks at him. They’re too close. Liam coughs and steps back, but has to grab for Theo when he nearly topples over. 

“Come on,” he grumbles, “you’re going to bed.”

Theo squirms for about half a second before he yawns. 

“Okay.” He slurs, but voice sounding too deep. 

Liam struggles to keep the thoughts that voice conjures out of his head. 

He manages to wrestle Theo out of his jeans and under the covers without any help from the boy himself. And no magic. 

“This it not how I thought my night would be going.” He grumbles. 

Theo laughs. His eyes are so bright, brighter than Liam has ever seen them. He wonders how he hadn’t noticed that Theo constantly looked resigned to something. It’s sobering, to see him look so brightly at Liam. He sighs and sits on the bed by Theo’s chest. 

“You sounded amazing, you know.” He says quietly. 

Theo blinks up at him. 

“Yeah?” 

“I’ve never heard anything like your voice. Not even when the fey were wild and actually used their voices.”

Theo looks so small like this, blanket up to his chin, and his hair flattened against his forehead. Liam has to stare at the wall to avoid doing something stupid. 

“Do you think I made the right choice?” Theo asks timidly. 

Liam jerks to frown at him. 

“By following your heart?”

“I’m disappointing the only family I have by doing this.” He whispers. 

Liam feels anger, no, rage, and his fingers clench. 

“You did. And you’ll be great.” Liam tells him fiercely. 

Theo’s eyes glisten. 

“Thank you.” 

Liam startles when Theo’s hand wraps around his own. 

He doesn’t move though. 

It doesn’t take long for Theo to fall asleep. Liam still doesn’t move for nearly ten minutes after he does. He goes through the actions of getting himself to bed mechanically and then stares at the ceiling with his head just running in circles for several hours before he finally falls into a restless sleep. 

 

Theo doesn’t seem to remember any of the conversation the next morning. 


	6. May 8

Liam wakes up to the humming of the alarms around his door. He groans and buried his face deeper into his pillow. 

“Come on, Liam! I’ve got a surprise for you.” Theo says in a suspiciously cheerful voice. 

Liam takes back every good thing he’s thought about him in the last month. He hates everything about him, from his pointy ears to his stupid smirking mouth. 

“What time is it?” He groans. 

“It’s 6 o’clock.” Theo says. 

He sounds entirely too happy about dragging Liam up at an ungodly hour. In fact, no one should sound that happy about being up this early, even if it comes with the bonus of torturing your roommate (bodyguard?). 

“If you think I’m leaving this bed… you’ve got another thing coming, babe.”

Theo groans from somewhere by his feet and then the covers are being yanked down. Liam growls and sends sparks in Theo’s vague direction while simultaneously gripping the covers to his chin. Theo yelps and he grins, slowly blinking his eyes open. It’s too bright, he needs to remember to buy some blinds. He rubs his eyes.

“I was trying to be nice.” Theo grumbles, crossing his arms.

Liam squints ups at him through his fingers. 

“By waking me up at 6 in the morning!?”

“It’s done! I couldn’t wait any longer!”

Liam sighs and pushes himself up to sitting, the blankets fall down to his waist, and he doesn’t even think about it until Theo coughs and stares very intently at his hair. Liam smirks at him.    
“I’ve been sleeping without a shirt on for several hundred years, I’m not about to stop just because you’re my live-in-job.”

“Live-in-job?” Theo questions, still staring just above his eyes. 

“Like a live in nanny but instead of making less work for me, you make more.”

Theo makes grumbley noises but Liam ignores him and struggles out of the covers twisted around his legs. When he’s finally made it out of the bedsheets and manages to drag himself to standing, Theo is staring at his feet with a sad kind of expression. 

“What’s up?” Liam asks. 

“You know I wouldn’t want you doing this if I had the choice, right?” 

Liam scoffs. 

“Way to make a boy feel loved, Theodore.” 

“You know my name isn’t actually…” Theo starts, looking up. 

He cuts himself off when he sees the eyebrow halfway up Liam’s forehead. He coughs and practically bolts toward the door. 

“I’ll let you get dressed.” He calls, slamming the door behind him

Liam shakes his head after him and then groans again when he catches sight of the clock. 

———

 

Theo waits on the couch, his knee bouncing with pent up energy. His head snaps up at the sound of a door opening. 

Liam walks into the living room a few moments later, wearing actual clothes, but looking just as annoyed to be up. Theo really should’ve waited for him to wake up on his own. 

“Can I eat breakfast before this surprise?” Liam asks, sounding resigned. 

Theo just nods at him. 

Liam sits down beside him a moment later with a bowl of cereal. 

“Are you going to give me any hints?” 

Theo grins at him, trying not to focus on the way his hair is sticking up and the flush still in his cheeks. 

“It’s a surprise!”

Liam narrows his eyes at him and suspiciously takes a bite of cereal. Theo doesn’t know how someone can look intimidating with milk dripping down their chin, but Liam somehow manages it. 

“How’d you manage a surprise anyway? I’ve been with you nearly constantly for the last month.”

Theo has to clamp his lips shut to stop the entire process from spilling out. He’s only got to wait a couple more minutes. 

Liam finally finishes his food and Theo is practically dragging him out the door as soon as he’s done brushing his teeth. 

They don’t have far to go, the gym that he had renovated was only a twenty minute walk away. Liam sighs when Theo doesn’t stop to get a cab, but he follows silently, to Theo’s immense relief. 

Liam stares up at the building when they get to it, and Theo has to nudge his shoulder to get him to move. 

“The surprise is inside, come on.” 

“You’d better not have gotten involved in a sex club or something, because I really don’t want to explain that to your father.” Liam grumbles. 

Theo ignores him, even though he can feel his cheeks heating up. 

When Liam walks through the door he visibly straightens. 

“What-?”

“I had this place made into an area for you to use your magic.” Theo interrupts. “You can throw pretty much any spell around and Stiles says it should hold.”

Liam turns to stare at him. 

“You has Stiles help you?”

“And Scott. I think a couple others came in as well. They said something about how they had to have enough power to keep up with you?”

Liam’s face is weirdly blank and Theo doesn’t know how to deal with that. 

“I got Derek to give me his number. They’re boyfriends, you know.” He babbles, sure he looks a bit crazy as he waves his arms around. 

Liam’s hands twitch. Theo stares over his shoulder at the cream coloured wall, trying to stop himself from fidgeting. 

“You got my best friend’s help to make me a training arena?” Liam asks in a disbelieving tone. 

“I mean, it’s not really an arena. Too small. But yes.” Theo confirms quietly. 

“Why?”

“I’m staying in your house, and you’re helping me with my voice.” He mumbles. 

Liam still looks a bit shell-shocked. 

“Are you going to try it out?” Theo asks finally. 

“Is it safe for you?” 

Theo points at a little closed off room in the corner made mostly of what looks like glass. 

“They said that would bounce any spells back, just like the walls.”

There’s a glimmer of excitement in Liam’s eyes now and Theo smiles tentatively at him. Liam waves him away, nearly smiling back. 

As soon as he’s closed the door behind him everything starts to glow blue. Theo watches with wide eyes as Liam is surrounded by a blue halo, with just a thin line of gold around his body. All he does at first is make patterns and shapes in the air with sparks and pure magic. Then the actual spells start. At one point, Liam seems to surround himself with fire and then blows it outward to cover the entire room from floor to ceiling.  

It’s almost like a dance, Liam twists his fingers and the walls shake, he opens his arms and light so bright Theo has to close his eyes spews from his chest. He looks like some kind of god when he turns to look at Theo. His eyes as glowing bright gold and he has magic pouring off of him in sparks and waves. The room feels sticky even inside of his little glass box, like Liam is sucking up all the attention of the room so that it can’t seem to move forward in time properly. When he smiles at Theo there’s so much power behind it he has to look away. 

When Liam finally knocks on the door about an hour later Theo has frantically scribbled down the first draft of two new songs and he’s a bit dazed from the secondhand magic that’s managed to seep into the room. 

Liam is sweaty and he looks tired, but his eyes are bright, although they aren’t glowing anymore. He smiles widely at Theo, which makes something flip in his chest. Liam’s magic does weird things to him. 

“I didn’t say it before, but thank you.” 

Theo shrugs like it isn’t a big deal even though he knows it is. 

“I thought you might like to go here while we record. I know sometimes it’s not that exciting for you.” 

Liam puts a hand on his shoulder. 

“You didn’t have to think about me at all, though. So thank you.” 

Theo smiles. 

“Think you can manage one more spell?” He asks cheekily. 

Liam laughs and then there’s the familiar feeling of syrupy magic surrounding him.


	7. May 14-17

Theo is in the studio a week later recording his 7th song and it’s just not working. The words are right, he knows that, but the way Lydia told him they would sound best is just… too harsh. 

_ ‘Told my lover I needed time  _

_ To figure out my twisted mind _

_ I’ve got all these stray thoughts in my head  _

_ And I don’t know how they should be said.’ _

He sings, trying to make it work with the drumbeat thumping through the headphones. Lydia grins at him through the window but he frowns back. Liam meets his eyes and raises an eyebrow. Theo narrows his eyes back. 

“That sounds good, Theo!” Brad calls through the headphones. 

Theo hums in reply but continues to frown. He sees Liam sit forward in his chair out of the corner of his eye. His mouth moves and he obviously says something to the other people in the booth but Theo can’t hear him. Things seem to get a bit heated before there’s a crackle over the speakers and Liam’s voice fills the room. 

“What’s not working?” He asks. 

Theo blinks. 

“How do you-?” 

Liam glares through the glass so Theo doesn’t even finish the question. Theo rolls his eyes and looks away. 

“I don’t like the beat.” He mumbles. 

Lydia whips around to stare at him. 

“You said you liked it earlier!” 

Theo coughs into his fist and stares at the ground.

“I don’t know. I think it’s too heavy for the song.”

“We can change it.” Brad says. “It’s okay.”

Theo nods. 

“You do like the others though, right?” Lydia asks after a moment.

Theo nods furiously. 

“You guys are doing a great job so far, really.” 

Liam is smirking at him through the glass when he looks over at him. Theo glares back and then shuts his eyes. He swears that he can hear Liam laugh at him. 

“Do you want to just try it a cappella?” He hears Lydia ask.

“Can we just break for a bit?” 

There’s a crash that Theo can hear through the glass and he grins as he looks up. Liam looks like he’s laughing loudly and his chair is on its side on the floor. That was the noise then.

“Eager are we?” He says with a laugh. 

Liam turns to meet his eyes and Theo feels his lungs clench at how bright his smile is. They stand staring for possibly too long before Lydia clears her throat and knocks on the desk. Theo stands up sheepishly and makes for the door. Lydia is the first out of the sound room door and she puts a hand on his shoulder. When he looks over at her she’s grinning madly and doing something frankly ridiculous with her eyebrows. Theo rolls his eyes and bares his teeth.

“Shut up.” He whispers. 

“I didn’t say anything!” Lydia says innocently. 

Theo feels Liam approaching before he’s anywhere near him, the stickiness building up in the air before he fingers brush the back of Theo’s arm. 

“Anything I should know?” 

Theo’s face betrays him when he turns to Liam and he knows his mouth twists into something soft. He can’t help it, even if it makes Lydia snort from his other side. Liam is grinning. He’s still got his fingers pressing against the underside of Theo’s arm and Theo suppresses a shiver. 

“You okay?” Liam asks after a moment, genuinely asking. 

Theo blinks until he can actually form a sentence and then nods. 

“It can’t always go perfectly, can it?” He replies.

There’s a noticable difference when Liam stops touching him. The overwhelming feeling of sugar on his skin disappears, leaving him breathing a bit harshly. It would be easy to blame everything on Liam and the way his magic muddles with Theo’s head, but he still can’t seem to stop staring at Liam even though he’s obviously making a conscious effort to rein in his magic. Theo jumps when Liam’s fingers brush his cheek.    
“I guess not.” Liam replies, something wistful in his voice. 

\------

 

Later they end up on the floor in their living room with Avengers playing on the tv. Liam got about a hundred pillows from somewhere and Theo has practically made himself a cave. Loki cackles on the screen and Liam shifts beside him. 

The pillows are nearly suffocatingly warm, and the blanket he has wrapped around him is nearly too tight, but Theo doesn’t mind. He can’t seem to stop his eyes from wandering over to look at Liam’s profile. His cheekbones are highlighted in blue and red and he looks strangely young. 

“Liam?” Theo says impulsively. 

Liam looks over at him and smiles softly. 

“Yeah?”

Theo opens his mouth but doesn’t know what to say.  _ ‘Thank you for seeing me’ ‘I’m glad you’re here’ _ ? 

“Are you okay?” Liam asks quietly. 

Theo nods and then makes a split second decision. He shuffled around under the pillows and reaches for Liam’s hand. His fingers tingle upon contact and he shivers under the blankets as magic winds up his wrist. 

Liam watches him with careful eyes. Something blows up on screen, but Theo doesn't look away. He hopes that Liam can see the things he doesn't have words for. 

”You’re doing a good thing, Theo.” Liam says after a moment. 

Theo swallows and squeezes his fingers tighter around Liam’s. 

———

 

Liam wakes up the next morning with Theo wrapped around his back. He doesn’t really register it until the other boy presses a hand against his stomach and squirms closer. He’s immediately fully awake and frozen in place. With his mind working double time he’s very aware of the fact that his magic has curled contently around Theo. He’s also aware of exactly where Theo’s hands are. So is his body. The one holding him in place is under his shirt, very, very low on his stomach. He tries to wiggle away but Theo just pulls him back. Liam hisses and yanks his magic back to his body. 

Theo grumbles from behind him, presumably at the loss of the warmth around him. Liam doesn’t care. He just needs to get out of here. He can’t stay with the way his instincts react to Theo. 

Carefully he twists a strand of magic around Theo’s wrist and lifts it away. The hard part after that is untangling their legs and trying to find an opening in the blankets. 

He lets out a sigh of relief when he finally feels cool air around him. 

Eventually he stands up and makes his way to the bathroom on wobbly legs. 

———

 

They meet Peter the next day. Or, Theo meets Peter and Liam is there because he has to be. 

They talk about a lot of stuff that Liam doesn’t really follow, like release dates and album photo shoots. It’s only when Theo mentions that he’s already got a tracklist that Liam tunes in. 

“I’ve got 14 songs written that I want on it.” Liam tells Peter.

Peter hums and leans back in his chair. 

“And how do you know that people will want to hear your music? You know I’m banking a lot on you, Raeken.”

Liam can see Theo shrink back into himself. 

“I don’t I guess.” Theo mumbles. 

Liam doesn’t like the look on Theo’s face. He leans forward and addresses Peter. 

“Have you actually heard him sing?” He asks with narrowed eyes.

Peter turns a condescending look on him.

“What would you even know about good music? You’re his what, bodyguard? Awfully small considering.” He sneers.

Liam bristles and the room heats up a couple degrees. 

“I’m older than your great-grandparents,  _ Hale. _ ” He hisses back. 

He knows his eyes must be glowing, because Theo is staring and Peter is shrinking back in his chair. He has to look away and take a deep breath before he can even think about reigning in his magic. 

Theo is still staring at him when he looks back. There’s something in his eyes that Liam can’t read. 

“Don’t act like you know either of us.” Liam tells Peter. 

Peter smirks at him, but it’s wobbly and Liam frankly doesn’t care what airs he puts on. He’s not worth his time. 

Theo clears his throat and Liam jerks around to look at him. He looks flustered and he won’t meet Liam’s eyes. 

“Anyway, we’ve got seven recorded so far. Would you like to hear the first drafts?” Theo asks. 

Peter smiles at him. Liam doesn’t like him at all. 

“If you wouldn’t mind.” 

They get up and move over to the corner of the room where a small set of speakers in set up. Liam slouches down into his chair and glares at Peter’s back. He has to stop himself from growling when Peter stands too close to Theo by the speakers as he’s turning the music on. 

Not even the soothing sound of Theo singing can calm Liam down when he can just  _ feel  _ the smug energy rolling off of Peter. 

Liam grabs Theo’s wrist and  practically drags him out of the room when their meeting is done. Surprisingly, Theo doesn’t protest. 

“Are you okay?” He asks, tripping over his feet. 

Liam huffs and doesn’t even bother to answer him. He doesn’t really know what to do with all the confusing emotions twisting in his stomach. There are actual sparks hovering around his hands. 

They stumble outside and Liam finally lets out a breath. 

“I just need. I need to work off some steam.” He mumbles. 

He doesn’t wait for Theo to reply before he’s pulling them through space to the magically enforced building that Theo had had made for him. He still can’t believe that Theo had done that for him. Liam lets go of Theo as soon as they’re inside. 

“Hurry.” He commands. 

He hears Theo grumble, but doesn’t pay any attention. As soon as the door shuts behind Theo, the magic is pouring out of him in waves. 

He hasn’t felt like this is centuries. Like the magic inside of him is going to explode if he doesn’t use it. He doesn’t want to know what would happen if he let it build. Blue hazes his vision. He exhales and time stops. Literally. Dust glitters in the air, Theo stands in his room with his hand pressed to the glass window. Gold radiates from Liam’s hands. Everything is eerily silent. Liam gasps and everything snaps back into place. The air around him roars and twists around him. He spreads his arms and colours spread in waves. The northern lights contained in a building. His heartbeat slows down as he weaves birds of glowing lights and makes a tree grow in the ground. Water pours from the ceiling for a moment before fire burns the tree he’s grown and steam fills the room. 

When he’s finished his muscles are protesting and his hands are shaking. He leans down and braces his hands on his knees, gasping. 

The door creaks when it opens. 

Theo walks toward him carefully. Liam watches him in his peripheral vision.

“That was… amazing.” 

There’s something like awe in his voice. 

Liam snorts wryly. 

“That was reckless.” He contradicts, grinning up at Theo. 

Theo smiles timidly back. 

“It was insane. I’ve never seen anyone do something like that.” 

Liam sobers. 

“I lost control. That much magic… well it’s not safe for most witches to handle.” He tells Theo seriously. 

He straightens and looks Theo straight in the eye. 

“I’m probably the only one who can, actually.”

“At the beginning there was a moment?” Theo starts. 

“Yeah. I’ll be getting a call from Scott about that later.”

“What did you do?” Theo asks. 

“I stopped time.” Liam answers quietly. 

Theo just stares at him with wide eyes. 

———

 

Scott calls him the next morning far too early. Liam blinks at the 4:56 on his screen before sighing and answering. 

“What was that yesterday.” Is what he opens with. 

Liam groans and flops back into his pillows. 

“You can’t call at a normal time?” 

“Liam.” 

Liam squeezes his eyes shut. 

“You know you can’t just stop time.”

“I know.” He says quietly. 

“Yeah. Seriously man. I know you’ve got an excessive amount of power but there’s no need to show off.” Comes Stiles’ voice. 

“This is serious, Stiles.” Scott chides. 

Stiles says something snarky back and they start hissing fond insults back and forth. 

“I didn’t mean to.” Liam whispers. 

Scott and Stiles stop bickering and the line is silent. 

“What do you mean?” Stiles asks finally. 

“We went to meet Theo’s manager yesterday and I don’t know, something about him set me off.” 

“You were jealous?!” Stiles cackles. 

Scott shushes him. 

“So much that you accidentally stopped time?” He asks softly. 

Liam nods before remembering that they can’t seen him. 

“Yeah.”

“Man, you’ve got it bad.” Stiles says wonderingly. 

“Shut up.” Liam grumbles halfheartedly. 

“Are you okay now?” Scott asks. 

Liam hums. 

“We’ll spar with you some time if you want.” Scott offers. 

“I might need it. Thanks guys.” 

“You know we love you buddy.” Stiles chimes in, oddly serious for him. 

“We just want you to be happy.” Scott confirms. 

“I know.” Liam sighs. 

“Go back to sleep.” Scott tells him. 

“I’d still be asleep if you hadn’t called me!” 

Stiles laughs and then the call ends. 

Liam stares into the dark for far too long before he can sleep again.


	8. May 28

Theo wakes up at 6 am to his alarm and immediately starts panicking. It’s the photo shoot today and he’d just been too hyped up to sleep and he’s sure he looks horrible and he’s definitely got bags under his eyes. Liam walks in rubbing his eyes like he can sense Theo’s speeding thoughts. 

“Come on,Theo.” He says softly, sitting down softly on the edge of his bed. 

Theo groans through his teeth and rolls away from Liam. Liam jabs him in the side in return.   
“Come on,” he says again, “you’ve got to be there in an hour.”

“Why do I need to do this, Liam?” Theo asks into his pillow.

“You’re the one that decided you wanted your face on the cover and on the CD insert.”

“I’m an idiot.” Theo laments. 

Liam laughs at him and then pulls the covers off his body. Theo shouts and sits up. 

“Fuck you! I’ve changed my mind! I hate you!” 

Liam laughs as he runs out the door. Theo throws a pillow after him. 

———

They actually arrive on time, Theo with his hair still damp from the shower. The set is simple. The backdrop is white and there’s lights everywhere. Someone grabs him as soon as he walks through the door. 

Liam’s magic immediately curls around his ankles when the person touches him. It does that every time he meets someone new. Theo doesn’t even know if Liam is aware of it. 

“Theo! We need you in styling!”

The girl speaks almost too quickly for Theo to understand her. 

He nods and follows her as she drags him over to a smaller room. There’s various makeup products scattered across the counter and a rack of clothes in the corner. Theo knows each outfit from the fitting two days ago. His favourite red one is right at the end. The girl pushes him down in a chair and immediately starts spraying his hair with water. He can see Liam in the mirror, leaning against the doorframe. She attacks him with a comb next and he widens his eyes at Liam through the mirror. Liam smirks back and shrugs. 

The girl is a whirlwind around him, fixing stray hairs and dusting his face with various powders. He sits there for nearly 45 minutes while she does things to his face. 

“Now you need to get dressed.” She tells him finally. “If you touch your face or hair I will murder you.” 

Theo can’t help but take her seriously with the way she’s glaring at him. He stands up. Liam’s eyes laugh at him when he turns to look at him. 

“Stop staring at your boyfriend and get dressed!” The girl exclaims, shoving at his shoulder. 

“Oh, we aren’t-“

“Shut up.”

“He’s my-“

“Get dressed.”

Theo blinks at the shirt in his hands. He tries to resist looking over at Liam. When had it become a habit to look at Liam whenever he needed something? And when had he started to be able to read him so well?

Once the pictures actually start the whole thing goes pretty fast. All he really has to do is stare where ever they tell him to and look like he’s contemplating the universe. 

He doesn’t think that Liam’s eyes leave him the entire time. 

———

 

When they finally call it quits Theo sighs in relief. He immediately makes for a sink to wash his face. The makeup feels weird. 

Liam is waiting for him when he gets out. 

The expression on his face is odd. 

Theo stops in front of him and raises an eyebrow. Liam clears his throat. 

“You looked good.” He says quietly. 

“Thanks.” 

Liam swallows and reaches to touch his cheek. 

“You’ve got glitter here.” 

Theo feels his cheeks heating up. 

Somewhere around the third outfit someone had smacked a glitter puff on his face. He’d felt Liam’s eyes heavier after that. 

Liam’s fingers are so delicate across his cheekbone. Theo feels himself sink into his touch. 

The door swings open and the girl from earlier strides in. Liam drops his hand abruptly and Theo takes a deep breath. She gives them a knowing look and snorts. 

“Yeah, not boyfriends at all.”

Theo coughs. 

“We really aren’t.” 

The girl hums thoughtfully and her eyes dart between them. 

“Okay. Whatever.” 

She goes back to shoving makeup in a bag and collecting hair products. Theo glances over at Liam. His cheeks are flushed and his eyes are just slightly too wide. Theo touches his arm. Liam looks up at him and Theo nods toward the door. 

“Thanks for everything…”

“Vanessa.” The girl finishes. 

“Thanks, Vanessa.” 

She grins at him. 

“You’d better figure that out soon.” She tells him, nodding toward where Liam has disappeared through the doorway. 

Theo laughs awkwardly. 

“Yeah okay.” 

She gives him one last smile before going back to her work. Theo shoots her a contemplative glance as he leaves the room. 

Liam is waiting for him by the entrance. 

“Ready to go home?”

Theo nods and reaches for Liam’s hand. He forcefully doesn’t think about the tingle that spreads up his arm as soon as their fingers touch. 


	9. June 10- 17

They go out for a late lunch on the 10th. Theo is stupidly nervous for some reason. He’s been busy with recording for the past two weeks, so it feels like he hasn’t seen Liam at all even though they live together and Liam has to follow him everywhere.

They end up at a small restaurant by a movie theater.

There’s a poster outside the theatre for a new Disney movie. Theo finds himself staring at it.

“Have you ever seen a Disney movie?” Liam asks him suddenly.

Theo nods and tears himself away from the sign. Liam is grinning at him. Theo braces himself for whatever stupid comment is about to come out of his mouth.

“Do you know who you remind me of?”

“Who.” Theo sighs.

“Ariel.”

Theo raises an eyebrow.

“It’s perfect really. You’ve both got daddy issues and a wonderful singing voices. And you both want out from your lives.” Liam explains.

There’s mischief in his eyes and Theo looks at him suspiciously.

“If you start calling me Ariel…”

Liam grins.

“You’ll what? Fire me?”

He can’t really say anything to that. He’s saved from having to think of a comeback by the waiter arriving with their drinks.

“Can I take your orders?” He asks.

Theo blinks, realizing that he hadn’t even looked at his menu. He looks over at Liam with mild panic but the other boy is staring down at his menu.

“I’ll have the spaghetti.” Liam says.

Theo flips around the menu and points at the first item that catches his eye.   
“This please.”

“The full size Hawaiian pizza?” The waiter confirms, looking confused.

Liam snorts. Theo shoots him a quick glare and then nods at the waiter.

“Yes please.”

“Is that all Sirs?”

Liam nods with a quiet thank you. Theo watches Liam’s expression slowly dissolve into laughter.   
“He looked so confused! Are you actually going to eat the entire thing?” He asks through giggles.

Theo slouches back in his chair and huffs.   
“I was a little distracted by your idiotic ideas.” He grumbles.

“You think I’m amazing.”

“I hate you.”

Theo crosses his arms and Liam laughs at him again.

“You look like a five year old that hasn’t gotten their way.”

Theo can’t help but smile, Liam looks so happy across from him, he’s got an album coming out in less than a month, and he’s finally free.

\------

 

They don’t get back to their apartment until nearly midnight. Liam had dragged them to the shopping mall and they’d spent too much money on various types of candy. Then they’d wandered around for far too long. It was one of the best days Theo has ever had.

Theo is laughing when they materialize in the living room. Liam has an arm wrapped around his waist and they’re pressed together all along Theo’s left side. His laughter trails off and the flat is silent.

“That was nice.” Liam says after a second.

Theo nods, he can’t seem to get his arms to cooperate and let go of Liam.

Magic builds around them. Liam clears his throat after a moment and lets Theo go.

“It’s getting late.” He whispers.

Theo nods and steps back, the syrupy feeling around them fading the longer they aren’t touching.

“I’m going to go…” Theo mumbles, pointing in the vague direction of his bedroom.

Liam nods. His eyes are very blue in the minimal light.

Theo finally tears himself away to go back to his bedroom.

“Goodnight Ariel.” He hears Liam call.

“Shut up.” He yells back.

His head is still blurry when he finally gets to bed.

———

 

Liam is just browsing when he finds it. He’s searching a song that Theo had mentioned the other day and right under the official lyric video is Theo’s face. 

Liam frowns at the screen and then clicks the video, because he’s nothing if not curious. 

The video opens with Theo talking. 

“-and this is a cover of ‘ _ Lose My Mind’  _ by Dean Lewis, I hope you guys enjoy it!” 

The video jump cuts after that to Theo on his bed with a guitar. The video is obviously a few months old, because he’s in the palace and there isn’t the same sureness in his singing that he has after being in the booth for the last month. Liam scrolls down as Theo sings softly. The number by his channel name makes his eyebrows raise. 

“Theo! Why didn’t you tell me you had a YouTube channel with nine million subscribers?!” 

He hears feet thudding down the hallway and then the door to his room flies open. Liam doesn’t even look up, he’s too busy scrolling down Theo’s channel. Some of the videos are recent, and Liam wonders when he’d had the time to record them without Liam noticing.

“What do you mean?” Theo asks, clearly going for a calm tone of voice. 

It sounds more panicked than anything. Liam just turns the computer around so that Theo can see. Theo walks slowly toward his bed. Liam watches his face go through a flurry of emotions as he realizes that he can’t get out of this.

“Why did you hide this?” Liam asks when it becomes clear that Theo isn’t going to offer an explanation.    
“I don’t know.” Theo whispers, staring at the screen.

Liam frowns. 

“How long have you had it?” 

“Nearly as long as YouTube has been around.” 

Theo hasn’t blinked since he reached the bed. Liam sighs and pokes him with a bit of magic. Theo jumps and turns to look at him. 

“Sit down.” Liam commands. 

There’s no protest, just the bed dipping and then Theo sitting beside him just out of reach.    
“You’re being weird about this.” Liam observes. 

“What? No!”

Liam just raises an eyebrow and pointedly clicks play on the next video. Theo makes a strangled noise and buries his face in his hands. 

“Can you turn it off please.” He mumbles around his fingers. 

“Are you embarrassed!?” Liam asks gleefully. 

Theo groans and smacks his arm before slamming the laptop shut. 

“You know you could’ve told Peter about this and he wouldn’t have given you such a hard time.” 

Theo doesn’t uncover his face. Liam sets the laptop aside and nudges his shoulder. Theo curls tighter into a ball.   
“I didn’t really want anyone else to know about it.” He says after a moment.

He uncurls and looks over at Liam. Liam abruptly feels every century he’s lived. Theo looks so young.    
“It was just for me, and I didn’t want to give that up yet.”

Liam’s magic expands with the next breath he takes, he can’t stop it. It curls warmly around Theo’s fingers. Theo blinks over at him. 

“Does it often do this?” he asks, lifting up his hand. 

Liam has to look away before he does something stupid, like cup the side of his face or demand that he never stop looking at Liam like that. 

“Sometimes.” 

Theo puts a hand on his shoulder and Liam suppresses a shudder. The mint of Theo’s magic creeps down his arm. 

Liam still isn’t used to the way their magics combine whenever they touch, he doesn’t know if he ever will be. 

“If anyone has to know, I’m glad it’s you.” He says earnestly. 

Liam turns back to him and smiles. 

“So you don’t mind if I spend the next week going through every video from the very start?” He teases.

Theo’s face goes from trusting to betrayed in half a second.

“You wouldn’t.” 

Liam just grins at him before pushing him out the door with a wall of magic. The last thing he sees before the door shuts is the shock on Theo’s face as the door slams in his face. 

“I hate you!” Theo calls through the door.

The smile that Liam aims at his laptop is probably more fond then necessary, but there’s no one there to see. 


	10. June 22-27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how American artists promote their singles, but for the sake of fiction, we will pretend I’m right.

The first single comes out on Wednesday, June 20th. Theo waits with bated breath for the listing to appear on iTunes. 

As soon as it goes live the comments on his Instagram flood in. There’s a lot of hearts. And at the very top is Liam’s account. 

‘ _ Proud of you’  _ is all it says, but it makes Theo look up at Liam across the room. 

Liam grins at him. 

The views on the lyric video of  _ ‘Ten Different Tongues’  _ climbs at an unreal rate. Theo blinks at the numbers. It’s an insane day. 

On the 22 he has a performance on BBC Radio 1. He has to get up at 4 am, which does not make him happy. He walks into the building full of nerves and overtired. Not even Liam’s presence at his back can calm him down. 

“You’ll be fine, Ariel. Everyone is ridiculously excited.” Liam erasures him. 

“I’d know that myself if you’d just give me my phone.” Theo grumbles sourly in reply. 

Liam nudges his shoulder as the walk into the booth. 

“You know you would never leave the screen if I gave it back.”

Theo grumbles, but doesn’t contradict him. 

The radio host stands up when they walk in. 

“You must be Theo.” He says warmly. 

“Yeah.” Theo replies, not able to say anything else. 

“I’m Robin.” He say reaching out a hand. Theo just kind of stares at it until Liam shocks his ankle and he realizes that he’s probably supposed to take it or something. 

Liam laughs at him as they shake hands. He can feel the happy press of magic on his back. 

Things go pretty smoothly. Theo doesn’t embarrass himself on live radio, and he says hi when Robin introduces him. They play his single probably one too many times, and then robin finally turns to him and says:

“So the new song out today?”

Theo laughs. 

“Yeah, um, I’m going to be performing two songs in the live lounge later, the first one is the one I’m sure you’ve all head by now,  _ Ten Different Tongues  _ and the other is actually the title track of the album  _ Stardust.” _

“So, you mentioned an album, Theo.” Robin prompts. 

“Yeah, Pre-order now, it’s out in just over a week!” Theo says in an exaggerated sales voice. 

Liam snorts from the corner and Theo shoots him a grin. 

“You heard it here guys!” Robin laughs, giving Theo a thumbs up. 

A couple people send in questions. 

_ ‘When did you start singing?’ _

_ ‘Do you plan on continuing your covers on YouTube?’ _

_ ‘Are you dating anyone?’ _

_ ‘What inspired the single?’ _

Theo does his best to answer them quickly. The whole thing goes a lot faster than he thought it would and before he knows it, they’re shuffling him into the Live Lounge. 

Mason and Lydia are singing together and playing their respective instruments when he gets there, and the person on the drums (Maya?) is drumming a low beat under their instruments. 

They stop when he comes through the door and look up at him. 

“Excited?” Lydia asks. 

Theo’s wide eyes must tell her everything she needs to know. 

“Let’s run them through a couple of times.” She says in response to his silence. 

Theo doesn’t know if that will help, since he’s pretty sure he sings both songs in his sleep by now, but he walks over to the mic stand anyway. 

Maya counts them in and then Lydia’s fingers are dancing over the keys. It’s easy to lose himself in familiar words and melodies. He’s been doing this constantly for the last two months. 

Lydia hums the melody behind him and he lets his eyes close. 

‘ _ Won’t you answer me _

_ Take these words I wrote _

_ And tell me goodbye in ten different tongues’ _

He knows it sounds good. They sound good together. 

_ Stardust  _ is different, there’s more drums and guitar and less piano. More of something you’d dance to in a lighting storm. 

He knows they’ll love it. 

When he opens his eyes Liam is watching him intensely. He walks over as the last note fades out at stops in front of Theo. 

“You really were born for this, weren’t you.” He says quietly. 

Theo blinks and clutches the mic stand tighter. There’s about fifteen different conflicting emotions pounding through his heart. 

“I-“

The door opens and Liam steps away. Someone sticks their head in the door. 

“We’re going live in 10.” The person says. 

Robin makes his way into the room a minute later. 

“Are you ready, Theo?”

Theo nods, eyes still on Liam. Liam smiles at him and turns to leave. 

“Thankyou.” Theo calla after him. 

Liam grins over his shoulder. 

The performance goes amazingly. Theo manages to hit the high bit in  _ Stardust  _ without his voice breaking and he’s still jittery as he says goodbye to the people listening. Liam watches him with raised eyebrows as he almost skips toward him. 

“You look happy.” Liam says fondly. 

Theo just beams at him. 

“It went so well!”

“Did you ever think it wouldn’t?” Liam asks in a disbelieving tone. 

“I mean. I’d hoped.”

“You could hit those notes in your sleep.”

Theo can’t stop smiling. 

“Anyway. Everyone is freaking out a bit.” Liam says, looking down at his phone. 

“Can I please have mine?” Theo pleads. 

Liam sighs a nods. He digs it out of his pocket and presents it to Theo with a flourish. 

“I’m taking it back in a few hours though.” 

Theo gapes at him. 

“You can’t just take my phone away!”

Liam smirks. 

“You could try and stop me, Ariel.”

“I told you not to call me that.” Theo mutters distractedly, scrolling through his notifications. 

It’s wonderful, to see all the lovely words people are sending him. He’d gotten them before with the videos, but these are different, these are about his words, not other peoples. He can’t stop smiling. 

———  
  


Liam trails behind Theo into the meeting room and settles into a chair with a sigh. Theo glares at him and starts fidgeting with his fingers. Liam sighs again and reaches over the grab his hand. 

“You aren’t being kicked off the label. They’d be idiots to do that to someone with a fan base already.” 

Theo flushes and avoids his eyes. He’s been like this about his YouTube channel ever since Liam had found it by accident. Even the overwhelmingly positive reaction to the two songs that are out isn’t enough to make him less shy about it. 

Peter walks into the room before Liam can start being really reassuring. 

“Hello, Theo. Liam.” He says, looking at them coolly. 

He’d backed off Theo after the third time Liam had jolted him. 

“How’s everything?” Theo asks anxiously. 

Peter grins. Liam narrows his eyes. 

“Even better than we expected.”

“So what am I here for?”

“We’re going to go through the entire album with the producers so that you can confirm everything. Wasn’t that in the email?” Peter asks. 

Liam growls inside. Peter knows very well what was in the email. Beside him, Theo sighs in relief. 

“Where is everyone then?” He questions. 

Peter sits down across from them and leans his elbows on the table. 

“I wanted to meet with the two of you first to go over some public stuff that you’ll need to do now that Theo is in the direct eye of the public.” He says seriously. 

“For instance, that,” he gestures to their still joined hands, “can’t happen unless you want people getting the wrong idea.” 

Theo quickly drops his hand. Liam feels something in him squeeze, but he just sits back in his chair. 

“Unless it’s the right idea?” Peter asks slyly. 

Theo scoffs. 

“No he’s just my bodyguard.”

Liam forces a smile on his face but he’s sure it looks painful. His magic shrinks into his skin. 

“That’s all.” He confirms bitterly. 

Theo looks concerned, but Liam just ignores him. Peter looks doubtful but moves on. 

“Good.” Peter says. “People are going to want to meet you. Do not say yes without passing it by the management team first.”

Liam can see Theo nod out of the corner of his eye. 

“And if you do happen to meet someone. We need to know right away.” Peter finishes, sitting back in his chair. 

“Okay.” Theo confirms quietly. 

“Great. Let’s go down to the studio.” 

They walk in silence down the stairs and through the hallway to the recording studio that Liam has spent the last two months in. 

There’s five people in the studio, Malia, Corey, Lydia, and two sound guys. Everyone settles into chairs. Liam settles into the corner and avoids Theo’s eyes. 

He closes his eyes when the music starts and lets Theo’s voice lull him into something similar to calm. 

———

He’s not sure how much later it is that Theo shakes him awake, but he can see that it’s getting dark through the one tiny window on the far wall. 

“Is it over?” He asks, forgetting to be mad at Theo. 

Theo nods. 

“I’m sorry.” Theo stops and reaches for Liam’s shoulder. 

“For earlier. I-“

“It’s okay.”

“No, you’re more than my bodyguard now, Liam. And I just. I don’t want you to be hurt, even if it’s by me.”

“That’s kind of my job.” Liam whispers, feeling oddly vulnerable. 

There’s strange magic humming in the air. 

“I don’t want to hurt you, and I don’t like the idea of standing here while others hurt you to get to me.” Theo says earnestly. 

Liam laughs softly. He’s in a dark room with Liam Dunbar, talking in too quiet voices. It’s easy to think it’s something that it’s not. 

“That’s what I’m there for though. To be your front line.” He replies. 

It’s easy to find Theo’s hand and wind their fingers together. 

“I’ve got you.” He says. 

There’s sniffle in the quiet room and Liam is on his feet in an instant. 

Theo practically wraps himself around Liam. All he can do is stand there and stroke his back while Theo attempts to pull himself together. 

“I don’t know if anyone has ever protected me.” Theo finally says. 

His voice is so quiet that Liam almost doesn’t hear him. But he does, and he doesn’t think that he could get any more angry than he feels at those words. 

“I’ve got you.” He repeats instead of storming the fey kingdom and taking Theo’s father apart layer by layer. 

“I’ve got you.”

  
  
  
  


 

 


	11. June 30- July 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you’ve read this far, i’m Eternally grateful to you. The next part of the series will hopefully be posted sooner rather than later, let me know if you want it in pieces or all at once. I hope you’ve enjoyed, let’s finish this. Also, let me know if you want me to do little demos for each song on Theo’s album.  
> All the love ❤️

When Theo finally gets to his release party, it’s in full swing already. He turns to grin at Liam and finds the other boy already smiling softly at him. It’s amazing what can change in two months. 

Lydia stumbles into him before he can get too preoccupied with Liam. It’s probably more accurate to say she barrels into him, because she nearly knocks him over and only the warm press of Liam’s magic against his back stops him from tumbling to the floor. 

“Theo!” She yells in his ear, making him wince. 

“You’re really late!” 

Theo laughs and pushes her gently away. 

“It’s my own party; I can’t be late.” 

He thinks that’s probably a lie as he looks around the room and finds drunk people everywhere. He sees Corey draped over Mason in one of the corners, talking in Mason’s ear and waving his arms around as Mason grins softly at the glass in his hand. Some of the producers and other people Theo recognizes but can’t name are laughing in a circle by the speakers. 

“We were waiting for you to play the album.” Lydia continues, jerking him out of his thoughts. 

Theo feels Liam move closer and turns to look at him. 

“Shouldn’t keep them waiting, should you?” Liam tells him with a grin. 

Theo abruptly feels ridiculously nervous. It’s stupid, because most of the people here have heard at least the early stages of the album, but seeing Liam look at him with something Theo would almost call pride makes him irrationally nervous. Like he has something to live up to. 

He opens his mouth, not quite sure what he’s going to say. But Lydia stops him when she grabs his hand and yanks him over to the DJ table. The familiar tingle of Liam’s magic settles across his shoulders, but the man himself doesn’t follow. Theo is a bit disappointed. 

“All you have to do is press play.” She says after turning the music off. 

Theo is distantly aware of a few grumbles from the crowd before they realize what’s going on and a few cheers start. He’s too focused on the title of the first song to really pay attention though. 

‘ _ Stardust’  _ it says. 

It’s so weird to see that one word displayed in iTunes. Two months of recording and putting everything together and here he was, about to press play on the title track of an album  _ he  _ wrote, with  _ his  _ voice singing the words. He never thought he’d be here. 

Lydia grabs his arm and squeezes so tightly he flinches and turns to look at her. She’s grinning widely at him. 

“Just press it!” She whisper-yells at him.

Theo takes a deep breath and takes a glance up. Liam is watching him over the heads of several people trying to talk to him, and Theo feels something inside of him twist. It’s been happening more and more lately, and he’s trying to ignore it. 

His hands are shaking a bit, but it doesn’t matter. He just has to press play. 

The first piano note rings through the air and he lets out a heavy breath. 

The room is completely silent when his voice starts. 

‘ _ Stardust,  _

_ Through all our veins. _

_ Bits of lost stars, _

_ Little pieces of giants. _

_ Makes loose explosions in my heart.’ _

Theo sinks down into a chair and puts his head in his hands. There are tears on his cheeks as the violins sing fiercely. 

Someone appears in front of him and by the familiar, almost sweet, taste of magic Theo knows it’s Liam. 

“Are you okay?” Liam asks softly. 

Theo blinks up at him. Liam’s edges are all blurry, probably from the tears still welling in his eyes. 

“I’ve done it.” 

His voice sounds far away and kind of disbelieving. 

“You haven’t done anything yet, Ariel. Maybe everyone will hate it.” The soft tone of his voice and the pet name, that Theo has found he really doesn’t mind, make the actual words meaningless. 

“It’s been out for nearly an hour, and I still can’t believe it.” He mumbles.

Liam sits on the ground beside him. 

“You’ve been putting out singles for two weeks, you shouldn’t be surprised.”

Theo breathes in shakily.    
“It’s different putting out the whole thing. That was just pieces, this is a full story.” 

“Everyone has liked it so far.”

Liam reaches up to grab his hand and Theo squeezes back.

“You’ll be good.” 

Liam stands up after a moment and grins down at him, the somber mood from before gone as fast as Theo had fallen into it. 

“We should dance.” Liam says with a smirk.

Theo isn’t sure if he’s joking or not, but now that the thought is in his head he can’t ignore it.  _ Stardust _ continues to play and eventually Theo aggressively tightens his grip on Liam’s hand and pulls him to his feet. There’s only a moment of awkwardness before Liam puts his other hand on his shoulder and grins. Theo shivers as Liam’s magic trickles up his arms. It’s still intoxicating.  _ Stardust  _ fades out and shifts into the familiar melody of  _ Brighter.  _ Theo only realizes that he’s tense when Liam strokes along his bicep and cups the back of his head. 

“You’re killing my hand, babe.” He whispers. 

Theo groans and ducks his head until his face is buried in Liam’s shoulder. 

The bass thuds through Theo’s feet and he hears a couple shouts. 

“You need to relax, it’s just your friends here.” Liam mumbles in his ear. 

Theo nods. Liam’s neck is warm and soft under his lips and he can’t help but close his eyes. It’s easy to pretend that Liam wants to be here with him. He chokes on an inhale when Liam lets go of his hand and smooths down his back to press them closer together. 

Theo feels eyes on him and blinks until he can see Lydia on the other side of the room staring at him. Her eyebrows are practically in her hairline. Theo feels his face heat up and he squeezes his eyes shut again to avoid the judgemental expression on her face. 

The air around them gets sticky and Theo feels himself slipping a bit. The skin on Liam’s neck right  _ there _ would be the perfect place to bite. He forces himself to breath and gathers his own magic around him as a sort of shield. Of course, it doesn’t really work with Liam because their magic just bonds together, but it clears his head enough that he can ignore the temptation to just grab Liam’s hair and suck a line of bruises up his neck. 

When the song ends, Theo takes a deep breath and tears them apart with great effort. To his relief Liam looks nearly as far gone. 

“I need a… drink.” He stutters before legging it to the bar in the corner. 

Liam doesn’t follow him, but he’s gone when Theo looks over his shoulder. 

He doesn’t see Liam again until he’s spoken to nearly everyone in the room and had at least two drinks too many. He literally falls into Liam when he finally finds him. Liam laughs and grabs his wrist to steady him. He sounds a little drunk as well. 

In a strange contradiction, as soon as he makes skin on skin contact with Liam it’s like he hadn’t drank the last three drinks handed to him. 

Liam pulls him in and wraps an arm around his neck before pressing their foreheads together. 

“Everyone loved it!” He shouts over the pop music playing on the speakers. 

Theo grins brightly and gently places his hand on Liam’s waist. 

“I can’t believe it.” He says again. 

Liam laughs at him. 

“You’re amazing.” He says suddenly, his eyes serious. 

His arm moves from around Theo’s neck to press his palm to his cheek. The hand still around Theo’s wrist tightens. His thumb strokes along his eyebrow. 

“You sound so good.” 

Theo stares at him with wide eyes. They’re so close. He can see every different colour in Liam’s eyes and the dark eyelashes surrounding them. The air against his lips was in Liam’s lungs. The moment draws out for far too long before Liam breaths in harshly and surges up. 

Theo gasps at the combined pressure of Liam’s lips against his and the way the magic humming around them crashes down. 

It feels a bit like drowning, he can’t really breathe because of how deeply they’re kissing, and he’s not sure that the air around them is really breathable anyway. Liam tastes like caramel and metal. Kind of like touching your tongue to a charged battery. 

He feels the air change and then they’re stumbling into the couch in their apartment. Theo goes down hard on him back, whatever air was left in his lungs leaving them in a whoosh. Liam is on top of him in seconds, a leg on either side of his hips and hands cupping his cheeks strangely gently. All Theo can do is grab his elbows and hold on. 

——-

 

Theo doesn’t remember much when he wakes up from after they got home. He remembers a lot of kissing and then some whispering and then more, less aggressive, kissing, but he wakes up in his own bed still in his dress shirt from the night before. There’s a little voice in his head screaming at him for being stupid. He groans and shoves his face into his pillow. His head protests the sharp movement, making him moan pitifully into the pillow. 

This was never meant to happen. Nothing can come of it. His stupid crush was supposed to just fade away, he wasn’t supposed to do anything about it. Hopefully Liam doesn’t remember. 

Theo doesn’t think he could forget. 

He can hear water running from the kitchen when he finally stumbles his way out of his room. 

“Hey, Theo.” Liam says with a grin when he sees him in the doorway. 

Theo walks carefully into the room and sits down at the table. He squints in the bright lights before giving up and letting his head fall into his arms. 

“You okay?” Liam asks quietly when he doesn’t say anything. 

_ ‘No’  _ Theo wants to say.  _ ‘I know what your lips taste like.’  _

“Yeah.” he says instead. “I think I drank way too much last night.”

He hears the chair across from him scrape out and the the sound of Liam sitting down. 

“I don’t remember much.” Theo rushes, panic making his throat clench. 

When he looks up, Liam’s face is tight. There’s something like pain around the edges of his eyes before visibly forces a smile onto his face. 

“Probably not much you’re forgetting, Ariel.” 

The nickname makes Theo flinch, hopefully Liam doesn’t notice. 

“We left relatively early.” 

“Come late, leave early. I’m a terrible popstar.” Theo jokes weakly. 

Liam offers him a small smile. 

“I’m going to go shower.” Liam says after a moment of awkward silence. 

It’s weird. Everything is weird. Theo just nods. 

“Couple days off before tour prep starts.” He says in a faux cheerful voice. 

Liam gives a soft whoop as he stands up. Theo watches him walk away, and then buries his head in his hands as soon as he’s out of sight. He groans and stares down at the wood. 

It’s only when the shower starts up that Theo realizes that he hadn’t felt Liam’s magic all morning. He doesn’t like it. 

Liam is completely silent in the shower, and eventually, Theo starts watching reactions to his album on YouTube to fill up the emptiness of the apartment. 

He has to live through a whole week of this before tour preparation starts. Everything feels cold, he didn’t realize how used to the warm syrup of Liam’s magic he was until it’s suddenly gone. He doesn’t know how he’s going to survive living here without it. 

He breathes in slowly to stop his hands from shaking. It’s already horrible, and it’s only been an hour. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always appreciated, I hope you enjoyed it! You can find me on tumblr [Here](https://iwritefanfictionsometimes.tumblr.com/) (iwritefanfictionsometimes)!


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